KYIV, June 20 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Saturday he ‌was renouncing a Polish state medal after ‌President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelenskiy of Poland's top honour over ​a historical dispute.

The move by Kyrylo Budanov threatens to deepen a diplomatic rift between the close strategic partners as Kyiv rallies allies to push Russia ‌to end its ⁠war on Ukraine.

Nawrocki said on Friday he was revoking the Order of the ⁠White Eagle from Zelenskiy after he renamed a military unit in honour of World War Two-era ​Ukrainian insurgents ​blamed for massacring Poles.

Budanov ​said he was renouncing ‌the Golden Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, awarded to him last year, to protest against a move he described as "a gift" for Russia.

"Our nations have ‌long-standing relations and different pages ​of history - both heroic ​and tragic," he ​posted on social media. "However, this should ‌be an occasion for deep ​reflection, not ​crude political speculation."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had earlier called Nawrocki's decision a "strategic error", and ​Polish Prime Minister ‌Donald Tusk, a Nawrocki opponent, urged both ​leaders to remain calm.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk. ​Editing by Mark Potter)