Ukrainian interior minister to visit Poland in wake of Ukrainian gift incident

MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky will arrive in Poland in the near future to meet with his Polish counterpart in the wake of an explosion of a gift presented to Polish police chief Gen. Jaroslaw Szymczyk in Ukraine, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said.

"In connection with the situation regarding the Ukrainian gift for General Jaroslaw Szymczyk, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky expressed his readiness to come to Poland and meet me. The meeting will take place soon. At the same time, to cut off media speculations, I rule out the Polish police chief's dismissal," Ukrainian media quoted Kaminski as saying on his social account.

The Polish Interior Ministry said on December 15 that a gift that Szymczyk had received while visiting Ukraine recently blew up at the Warsaw police office later, injuring a police official and a civil employee.

Poland asked Ukraine to provide explanations.

Kaminski said later that Dmitry Bondar, deputy chief of the Ukrainian State Service for Emergency Situations responsible for presenting the gift to Gen. Szymczyk, was suspended from office.

"A criminal case has been initiated into the case in Ukraine," Kaminski wrote on social media.