Duda: Poland-Russia relations are complicated due to Smolensk tragedy, aggression against Ukraine

Polish President Andrzej Duda said this in an interview with the PAP on the eve of the Smolensk tragedy anniversary, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"The relations [with Russia] are complicated. On the one hand, because of the Smolensk tragedy, the return of the plane wreckage... However, it’s not only about the Smolensk tragedy. It is also a matter of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the occupation of Crimea, the occupation of part of the Ukrainian territory," the Polish leader said.

Duda noted that he was trying to continue the policy of President Lech Kaczynski in the issue of relations with the eastern neighbors, the US, ensuring energy independence.

"President Kaczynski tried to create alliances so that we could cooperate well with our neighbors, with the Baltic countries and the countries in the south," Duda said.

Lech Kaczynski, his wife and numerous representatives of the Polish political and military elite and the public (a total of 96 people) were killed in a plane crash on April 10, 2010 near Smolensk, Russia, where they were going to participate in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

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