President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Poland, on Dec. 19, 2025. (Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images)Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is in a tough spot. The liberal pro-EU, pro-Ukraine prime minister is looking at a country increasingly at odds with both.In recent weeks, ties between Kyiv and Warsaw have sharply deteriorated after President Volodymyr Zelensky named a military unit in honor of the World War II–era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), prompting his Polish counterpart to revoke the country's highest state honor previously awarded to the Ukrainian president.The unfolding row saw Zelensky skip the Ukraine Recovery Conference taking place on June 25-26 in Gdansk, casting a shadow over the event meant to underscore Poland's role as Ukraine's partner and ally.Caught between his partnership with Kyiv and Polish public opinion increasingly backing Polish President Karol Nawrocki's hardline stance, and upcoming parliamentary elections set for late 2027, Tusk finds himself walking a tightrope.The prime minister "understands that neither Poland nor Europe gains if nationalist narratives dominate across the continent — especially between the EU and candidate countries," says Wojciech Przybylski, an editor at Visegrad Insight and president of Res Publica Nowa."In a two-player polarisation game between Nawrocki and Zelensky, Tusk has no role as a third party."The Polish mood shifts on UkraineAverse to being drawn into the dispute, Tusk has denounced the rift as a strategic blunder and a gift to Moscow."The task of presidents Zelensky and Nawrocki is to calm emotions, not to stoke tension. The front line runs elsewhere," he said.Speaking the same day as Ukraine confirmed Zelensky would skip the Gdansk conference, Tusk simply noted: "I will not contribute in any way to fueling this tension. Whether it's popular or not, frankly, I'm not interested at this point."And popular it is.Surveys show that 51% of Poles supported stripping Zelensky of the state award, and that Polish attitudes toward Ukraine have worsened significantly as a result of the controversy.