Deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs, ex-Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk and the leader of the minority of the Polish Senate, former head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Klich said that one should not be pursued for statements on the topic of history if they do not contain calls for violence and hostility.

"With growing concern, we are watching the deterioration of the atmosphere in the dialogue between our states and peoples. Instead of diminishing, the tension is growing. More acute language is expressed in public discussions, laws are adopted that cause misunderstanding and quite fair protest both from the Polish and from the Ukrainian side," a joint statement of Tarasiuk and Klich reads, posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Monday.

In their opinion, the reason for such tendencies is the use of history for current political purposes. However, "over the last quarter century our peoples and states have proved their ability to overcome historical problems and follow the same path as the countries of Western Europe have passed before.

"During the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Polish society and the Polish state invariably support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the need to return Crimea and Donbas and the preservation of sanctions against Russia. Both countries used to recognize each other as a strategic partner, and Poland used to be a true advocate for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations," a statement reads, noting that "only Russia wins using the mutual hostility."

"The goal of Russia's aggressive actions is not only Ukraine, but also Poland, the entire European Union and NATO," the former Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Poland said.

In order to build good-neighborly relations between the two states and peoples, Tarasiuk and Klich proposed to formulate "several key action points for an overcoming of the existing crisis."

"We must form mutual relations on the principle: "Forgive and ask for forgiveness." As Pope Saint John Paul II urged us, and as our churches, presidents, governments and parliaments used to do in the past," the statement said.

In addition, the ex-Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Poland emphasize that "the past should be remembered," and the victims of conflicts and crimes should be duly buried. "And this is the main duty of representatives of the authorities of our countries," the statement says.

"Studies and statements on the topic of history must have absolute freedom, no one should be punished for expressing one's own views unless they call for violence and hostility," the joint statement of Tarasiuk and Klich reads.