Poland's key presidential candidate Donald Tusk said Monday that if elected, he will hold dialogues with Russia "in a very candid and firm voice" and seek better ties between the two countries.

Tusk, a pro-market conservative and leader of the Civic Platform party,is now leading the presidential race after the first round of voting on Sunday.

Speaking to a Russian TV reporter in the northern port city of Gdansk, Tusk said on the issue of history, he would ask Russia to recognize and respect historical facts.

He said Poland and Russia should be dedicated to safeguarding their mutual interests and that if he won the presidency, he would proceed from the interests of Poland to build the best possible relations with Russia.

Tusk won 36.3 percent of votes on Sunday, and has been battling for more votes in the run-up to the run-off elections on Oct. 23.

Tusk's rival Lech Kaczynski, who leads the Law and Justice party, has vowed to take a harder line against Russia whose ties with Poland have been strained lately.

Russia and Germany last month signed a deal to build a Baltic pipeline, which would give Europe an additional source of Russian natural gas.

But Warsaw has strongly protested against the construction of the pipeline, which will bypass current routes through Poland and Ukraine, saying Moscow could use gas supplies to exert political pressure on Europe and Poland in particular.

Putin has denied any political motivation in the plans to construct the new pipeline.

Source: Xinhua