Polish president in Kyiv pledges more aid to Ukraine as Russia’s war nears six-month mark
Wesprzyj naszą pracę na Go Fund Me. Dziękujemy!Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday pledged more economic and military aid to Ukraine on a visit to Kyiv, news agencies reported, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine neared its six-month mark.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky meet in Kyiv on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.Photo: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP
Speaking to reporters during a trip to the Ukrainian capital after talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Duda said that Poland would continue to provide political, economic, humanitarian and military assistance to its war-torn neighbour, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He said he was honured to be visiting Kyiv on Ukrainian Flag Day and on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, conveying „cordial greetings to the Ukrainian people,” including „wishes of victory” over Russia.
„I would like to assure you that the Polish people are with you and wish for you to win this war,” Duda said.
„President Zelensky and I discussed the areas in which Poland supports Ukraine, including military and humanitarian assistance as well as our participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine,” Duda said at a joint conference with Zelensky.
„Ukraine can count on Poland,” he declared.
He added: „I believe that Ukraine will not only defend itself, but also win, regain all of its land, and rebuild its infrastructure thanks to support from Poland and all other honest nations. I believe the attackers will be repelled.”
Duda also said that Ukraine was „defending justice, honesty, democracy and international law … against Russia’s onslaught.”
„Today you are defending freedom not only in Ukraine, but also in many other countries,” he added.
He voiced his „great respect for the Ukrainian people” and „their extraordinary heroism,” saying that Warsaw was unwavering in its support of Kyiv and that „the Polish people stand with the people of Ukraine and will support them until the last day of the war.”
Zelensky told reporters that his talks with Duda on military, economic, humanitarian and political support for Ukraine were „very productive.”
„We reviewed a whole gamut of issues,” Zelensky said. „Of course, we discussed defence and support for Ukrainians in Poland.”
„I am very grateful to you, as well as to the government, the first lady and Poland as a whole for helping Ukraine in such a warm way,” Zelensky said, addressing Duda.
He emphasized that Duda was visiting Kyiv on Ukraine’s National Flag Day and on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, the PAP news agency reported.
„It is very important that we are friends, and friends want to be together on such a symbolic day,” Zelensky said, as quoted by the Polish state news agency.
While in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, Duda was expected to take part in the Second Summit of the Crimea Platform initiative later in the day to discuss international support for Ukraine, according to his chief of staff, Paweł Szrot.
Duda last August attended the first Crimea Platform summit in Kyiv. He said at the time that Poland „will not be indifferent to Russian attempts to harm Ukraine’s territorial integrity and to human tragedy unfolding in the Crimean Peninsula.”
Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and then fomented a separatist conflict in that country’s eastern Donbas region.
Wednesday will mark 31 years since Ukraine regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and also exactly six months since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.
Duda has met with Zelensky five times this year, including on three visits he has made to Ukraine since the start of the invasion, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The two previously met in Kyiv in May, April and February, and they also held bilateral talks when Ukraine’s Zelensky visited Poland in January.
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Source: IAR, PAP, president.pl
Radio Poland
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