On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Poland following a deal between the two nations on a long-standing point of contention: the exhumation of Polish victims of Ukrainian nationalist killings during World War II.

Donald Tusk's office announced early on Wednesday that he would greet Zelenskyy in the late morning and that the two would meet for a joint news conference just after noon local time. The visit follows Tusk's announcement of progress on the exhumations issue, which has caused years of tension in relations.

On Friday, Tusk made reference to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in a post on the social media site X, saying “Finally a breakthrough. There is a decision on the first exhumations of Polish victims of the UPA. I thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for their good cooperation. We are waiting for further decisions.”

The Freedom and Democracy Foundation, a non-governmental group, announced on Monday that it will begin exhuming victims in Ukraine starting in April. While Poland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, the issue of Polish victims buried in mass graves on Ukrainian soil for over eight decades has caused lingering resentment among many Poles. It has also exerted pressure on Tusk, who is trying to demonstrate progress on a matter that many Poles still find significant. It is especially significant since a nationalist opposition candidate is predicted to pose a serious threat to his party's nominee in the May presidential election.

This issue began during the war in Europe in 1943–1944. About 100,000 Poles were slaughtered by Ukrainian nationalists in Volhynia and other areas that are now part of Ukraine but were occupied by Nazi Germany in eastern Poland at the time. Entire villages were destroyed, and their residents were killed by nationalists and their allies, who aimed to create an independent Ukrainian state. Poland views these events as genocide and has been requesting Ukraine's permission to exhume the victims for proper burials. Around 15,000 Ukrainians were killed as a form of retaliation. This is a sensitive issue for Ukraine because some Ukrainian nationalists from World War II are seen as national heroes for their fight for Ukraine's independence.

In May 2023, as both sides worked towards resolving the issue, Ukraine's parliament chairman, Ruslan Stefanchuk, addressed the Polish parliament with a message of reconciliation. “Human life has equal value, regardless of nationality, race, sex or religion,” Ruslan Stefanchuk told Polish lawmakers at the time. “With this awareness, we will cooperate with you, dear Polish friends, and we will accept the truth regardless of how uncompromising it may be.”