Poland’s presidential office has described President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal to establish a National Pantheon as another “escalatory” step by Kyiv, saying it further validates President Karol Nawrocki’s recent decision to revoke Poland’s highest state decoration from the Ukrainian leader.In an interview with Polish Radio on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz said Zelensky’s announcement represented “another stage of escalatory actions” by the Ukrainian authorities.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“The announcement of a bill on the National Pantheon is another stage of escalatory actions by the Ukrainian authorities, following the decision at the end of May to name one of the military units after the ‘Heroes of the UPA,’” Leśkiewicz said.Leśkiewicz argued that the latest move demonstrated Nawrocki had been right to strip Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration.The spokesperson also criticized members of Poland’s governing coalition who had condemned Nawrocki’s decision, arguing that “even they are now admitting the president was right.”Continued strain of relationsRelations between Kyiv and Warsaw have deteriorated in recent weeks, after Ukraine named a special forces unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), whose members Poland holds responsible for the World War II-era Volhynia massacres.Ukraine, however, regards the UPA primarily as a movement that fought for the country’s independence.