The Euromaidan revolution totally reoriented Ukraine’s policy in both internal and external dimensions. The new Ukrainian authorities facing Russian aggression and domestic instability started to build a new national identity in order to consolidate social cohesion. Due to the fact that Kiev’s new historical narrative glorifies the Ukrainian nationalists from the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who contributed to the Holocaust of Jews and committed mass murders on the representatives of other nationalities, such a  policy may be a  serious obstacle in the context of Ukraine’s external relations. The present article investigates particularly Israeli-Ukrainian relations after the Euromaidan revolution. The article analyses the impact of the new Ukrainian identity on bilateral relations as well as attempting to answer whether or not it may influence Kiev’s cooperation with the European Union. The article contains a brief description of the new identity building process in the post-Euromaidan Ukraine with special consideration of those elements of it, which are related to “Ukrainian Nationalism”.

The geopolitical location between Russia and Germany has historically determined Poland’s foreign policy, in which Ukraine has been given a privileged place. Polish policy-makers have perceived Ukrainian independence as the main barrier preventing the restoration of Russian imperial ambitions. Consequently, Poland has been unwavering in its commitment to supporting the Ukrainians in their resistance to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This attitude was visible in Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s 2023 lecture at the University of Heidelberg. Nevertheless, relations between Ukraine and Poland and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict are far more complex than is mainly acknowledged. Behind Poland’s support, there is an unhealed wound of Ukrainian nationalism, which the current government in Ukraine does not want to unknowledge. The Ukrainian nationalist ideas, based on the slogan “Nation above all,” are very different from those of the Poles. Upon proper recognition of the multifaceted causes of war and the situation’s complexity, a cease-fire and a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict could be achieved.