The Ukrainian side is ready for a constructive dialogue with Poland on problematic issues of mutual history, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"The Ukrainian-Polish dialogue should continue to be based on the formula of solidarity and mutual understanding of our people, including what was entrenched in the Joint Declaration signed by the presidents on May 27, 1997," Poroshenko told reporters following the negotiations with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"I would like to point out once again that the Ukrainian side is ready for a candid and constructive dialogue on the issues of the tragic pages in our common history and I am confident that this is mutual understanding, we will already find this stand in the nearest future," he said.

The Ukrainian-Polish dialogue "should not work for the good of third parties," because neither Ukrainians nor Poles will benefit from complications in their relations, he added.

Historians of the two countries give different interpretations of the tragic events of July 11-12, 1943, the period considered the culmination of the Volyn tragedy when, according to different information, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army troops attacked from 60 to 100 populated localities in Poland.

Poles said that there were over 60,000 victims, and Ukrainian researchers point out that the Volyn tragedy was a result of the war of Poland's Home Army with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (the organization currently banned in Russia), in which the civil population participated. At that, the Polish side also engaged in repressions against the Ukrainian civilian population - Kyiv estimates death toll of the Ukrainian side as 10,000-20,000 people.

Former Ukrainian presidents, leaders of a number of churches, state and society figures addressed the Polish leadership and society in early July prior to the Volyn tragedy anniversary with an appeal to refrain from political statements and establish Remembrance Day for the victims of the common past of the two countries. The individuals who signed the appeal also called on the Polish government "to stop any ill-considered political declaration, adoption of which will not alleviate the pain, but only allow our common enemies to use it against Poland and Ukraine."

Despite that, the Polish Sejm established July 11 as National Remembrance Day for the victims of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the citizens of the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939).

Kyiv reacted badly to this. The Ukrainian president expressed his regret over the Polish Sejm's adoption of the decree recognizing the massacre of Poles in Volyn as genocide on July 22. "I regret the decision of the Polish Sejm. I know that many people would want to use it for political speculations," he said, calling on Poland for mutual forgiveness and continuation of work in joint evaluation of the tragic events.