Until the Russian military escalated its buildup along the Ukrainian frontier earlier this year, the relationship between the Polish and Ukrainian states since the collapse of the Soviet Union had been marked by periods of cooperation punctuated with occasional disputes. These disparities seemed to be gathering steam as of late as both countries have struggled to come to terms with their own histories and national identities.

Similarly, the relationship between the Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Greek Catholic churches in Poland and Ukraine through much of the 20th century could be described as rocky as well, although relations have improved considerably since a low point that immediately followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.