Poland Denies Putin's Territorial Claims In Western Ukraine

WARSAW, July 28 (dpa) -- Warsaw has denied Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that it is laying claim to parts of western Ukraine.

"Poland has not made any territorial claims against Ukraine, is not currently making any, and does not intend to do so in the future," the Polish Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday.

On the contrary, Poland fully recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its legally defined, internationally recognized borders, the statement continued.

"Moscow's insinuations regarding alleged plans to annex western territories of Ukraine, including by Poland, constitute a crude attempt at disinformation," it added.

Poland has been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters in its defence against the Russian invasion since 2022. 

However, the controversial comments from Putin come amid heightened tensions between Warsaw and Kiev due to a historic dispute over massacres of Polish nationals committed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II.

On Sunday, Putin once again alleged that Ukraine was politically divided by the River Dnipro. 

"Left-bank (eastern) Ukraine has always been regarded not only as pro-Russian, but as part of Russia," he said in St Petersburg, according to the Kremlin.

From this perspective, Putin's claims extend far beyond the territories in the eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia has already declared annexed.

Before World War II, large parts of what is now western Ukraine, including the modern-day city of Lviv, belonged to Poland. 

The southern part of Ukraine's Odessa region was Romanian, and the Transcarpathian region has a significant Hungarian minority.

 --NNN-dpa