Karol Nawrocki made the comments on the private Polsat News channel in response to the presenter’s comments that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump does not see Ukraine in the North Atlantic Alliance.

Nawrocki said: “Today, I do not see Ukraine in either structure, neither in the European Union nor in NATO, until those important civilizational issues for Poles are resolved.

“A country that cannot answer for a very brutal crime against 120,000 of its neighbors cannot be part of international alliances."

Nawrocki’s remarks were a reference to the World War II-era ethnic cleansing of Poles in what is now western Ukraine.

The Volhynia Massacre of 1943-44 is viewed by Poland as an act of genocide by Ukrainian nationalists and has soured relations between the two countries for decades.

Following the comments, Tusk took to X in a post aimed at Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which backs Nawrocki.

The prime minister wrote: "Your candidate, Karol Nawrocki, has said he sees no place for Ukraine in NATO.

“Do you recall which president was the most supportive of Ukraine on this issue? And which one was the most opposed? Aren’t you ashamed?”

Kaczyński’s late brother Lech strongly supported Kyiv’s NATO aspirations as president. Despite Tusk’s indignation over Nawrocki’s comments, a senior figure in his own camp made similar statements last year.

Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in October that Ukraine’s EU accession should be blocked until Kyiv permits the exhumation of Poles killed in the massacre.

Exhumations have long been a central bone of contention between Kyiv and Warsaw.

Nawrocki, who heads the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body tasked with documenting crimes against the Polish people, also addressed this issue on Polsat News.

He said that if elected he would “make it clear to the Ukrainians that our financial efforts, the efforts of citizens, military efforts that have helped Ukraine, should be reciprocated by Ukraine and [Poland given] the opportunity to bury our women and children."