Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference opening in Gdańsk on 25 June, Ukrainian authorities confirmed on Tuesday. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will lead the delegation instead. The foreign ministry in Kyiv stated the decision was intended to keep the event ‘in pragmatic, economic, correct frameworks, without excessive politicisation and scandals.’ Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking to reporters, said the conference might be ‘even more effective’ without Zelensky’s presence, calling the move a step towards de-escalation. The summit, co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, is expected to draw delegations from roughly 100 countries and is seen by organisers as vital for securing reconstruction funding and reinforcing Poland’s regional leadership role.

The absence is the latest fallout from a dispute ignited in late May when Zelensky bestowed the honorary title ‘Heroes of the UPA’ on a unit of Ukraine’s special operations forces. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is revered in Ukraine as a resistance force against Soviet rule, but in Poland it is associated with the mass killing of ethnic Poles in Volhynia between 1943 and 1945. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state distinction. Zelensky then returned the medal by courier, and several senior Ukrainian officials and former presidents renounced their own Polish awards. The Ukrainian foreign ministry has since said it is working to ‘smooth the sharp edges’ in bilateral ties, while stressing that Nawrocki’s stance should not be equated with the position of Poland as a whole or its society.

Western media and analysts have warned that the row risks undermining the Western coalition backing Ukraine. The Financial Times and The New York Times reported that the conflict could be ‘destructive,’ with one Warsaw-based political scientist quoted as saying ‘Russia is now opening champagne.’ Polish commentators have described Tusk as ‘the only adult in the room,’ noting that he has publicly called the spat a strategic mistake that benefits Moscow. On the far fringes of Polish debate, the publication Myśl Polska argued that Warsaw should restore relations with Russia to prepare for a ‘quite probable war with Ukraine,’ a view that remains isolated. Meanwhile, the conference will proceed with high-level European attendance, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In a separate development, Armenia confirmed it will send its Security Council secretary, a move that Bloomberg interpreted as underscoring Yerevan’s continued pivot away from Moscow amid what the agency described as ‘intensifying economic pressure’ from Russia.

The historical dispute remains unresolved. According to the Financial Times, Polish officials have demanded that the reference to UPA be removed from the unit’s name, but Kyiv has not indicated any willingness to compromise. The Ukrainian foreign ministry maintains that dialogue on difficult historical questions is possible, yet observers note that the reciprocal renunciation of honours has hardened public sentiment on both sides. The Gdańsk conference will now test whether the two governments can compartmentalise the memory conflict sufficiently to advance practical cooperation on reconstruction, or whether the rift will further erode the political trust that has underpinned their alliance since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.