Komorowski seeks stronger ties with Russia

WARSAW, Poland, June 19 (UPI) -- Acting Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski pledged Friday to improve relations with Russia to "expand the spheres of our cooperation."

Komorowski, in an interview with RIA Novosti, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had promised to visit Poland after Sunday's presidential election.

"I have also spoken with the Russian president about what can be done to improve Polish-Russian ties, to expand the spheres of our cooperation," said Komorowski, the front-runner in the presidential race.

He became acting president after President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of top government officials died in an April 10 plane crash in western Russia.

Most Poles support the "difficult path" toward reconciliation with Russia, Komorowski said.

Reconciliation between the two countries, he said, began when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Poland in September for events marking the anniversary of the beginning of World War II. Putin later met the Polish prime minister in Katyn, a forest near the Russian city of Smolensk where Soviet secret police killed thousands of Polish officers in 1940.

"I think that after this turning point, the unveiling the truth about the Katyn massacre, which had strained Polish-Russian relations for many years, it is possible and necessary to take new steps toward reconciliation," Komorowski said.