Head of the International Policy Bureau at the Chancellery of the President of Poland, Marcin Przydacz, has spoken out regarding the fact that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not participate in the fifth Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) scheduled for June 25-26 in Gdańsk.
"The invitations to the conference in Gdańsk were co-signed by Prime Minister Tusk and President Zelenskyy. Therefore, both were supposed to act as hosts and receive guests. The President of Ukraine, despite having already invited guests, is refusing to participate, thereby putting Prime Minister Tusk in an absurd position," he wrote on the X social network on Tuesday.
"It is by no means pleasant for me that the Prime Minister of the Republic is being humiliated on the international stage. Regarding this Prime Minister, unfortunately, this is not the first time," he added.
As reported, URC 2026 will take place in the city of Gdańsk on June 25-26, 2026. The event is co-organized by the governments of Poland and Ukraine to mobilize international support, attract investments, and plan reconstruction. The conference continues a series of high-level international forums previously hosted by Lugano, London, Berlin, and Rome.
President Zelenskyy will not participate in the URC-2026 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk. This was announced on Tuesday by First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, who stated that she would head the Ukrainian delegation at the event. "I will head the Ukrainian delegation and overall our work at URC-2026 in Gdańsk," she said.
According to her, the Ukrainian team will also include representatives of Ukrainian businesses, heads of state-owned companies, representatives of our communities from across the country, and, of course, government officials and parliamentarians.
Earlier, Przydacz stated that President of Poland Karol Nawrocki had not received an invitation to URC 2026 and therefore would not participate in it. In turn, Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Communications Dmytro Lytvyn, when asked by journalists regarding the invitation of Nawrocki to the conference, replied: "It is incorrect for us to invite Mr. President of Poland to an event in a Polish city; this is an internal Polish matter."
Prior to this, on June 19, Nawrocki announced a decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, citing differences over historical memory and the attitude toward the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Nawrocki also expressed disagreement with Zelenskyy’s decision to award the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the UAF the honorary title named after the Heroes of the UPA.
Following this, the second President of Ukraine (1994-2005) Leonid Kuchma, the third President of Ukraine (2005-2010) Viktor Yushchenko, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (1998-2000, 2005-2007) Borys Tarasyuk renounced the Polish Order of the White Eagle. A number of current and former state figures also announced their refusal of several Polish state awards.
Zelenskyy stated that the Order of the White Eagle is a symbol of trust of the Polish state and gratitude of the people, and emphasized that Ukraine respects Poland’s contribution to the joint struggle against Russian aggression. However, he noted that Ukraine would not argue over decisions regarding awards if similar symbols remain with Catherine the Great, Benito Mussolini, and Gerhard Schröder.
