Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on Ukrainians and Poles to forgive each other in the context of the events of the Second World War.

"Before the memory of the innocent victims of Sahryn, I urge all of you - Ukrainians and Poles - to Christian forgiveness. It is mutual forgiveness, not revenge that all innocent victims of fratricidal conflicts between our peoples urge us to," Poroshenko said in the Polish village of Sahryn on Sunday, July 8, at the opening ceremony of the memorial of remembrance to Ukrainians who were killed in ethnic cleansing during the Second World War.

The president stressed that the Ukrainians deeply honor the memory of the Poles, who were the victims of tragic events in Ukraine, in particular, in Volyn region in 1943-1944.

"We strongly condemn the brutality and violence of both the present and the past, and we urge our present and future generations of both Ukrainians and Poles not to make such a tragedy happen again," he said.

According to Poroshenko, any confrontation between Ukraine and Poland weakens both states. He said that "the terrible pages of the past should not be decisive for today and they certainly should not be decisive for our common European future."