The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the good relations with neighboring Poland. They remain on a sincere basis, “no bickering and the old legacy of conflict,” Zelensky said in a video message late Monday. This is a historic achievement.
President of Poland Andrzej Duda became the first foreign head of state to address the Ukrainian parliament on Sunday since the start of the Russian invasion. He spoke of the intention to conclude a Polish-Ukrainian friendship agreement. Parliamentarians rose several times to applaud the guest from Poland. Ukrainian President Zelensky was also present.
Duda’s sympathetic visit was surprisingly announced on Sunday morning. The 50-year-old traveled to Ukraine for the second time since the start of the war in late February. Among other things, Duda is committed to ensuring that the neighboring country receives EU candidate status as soon as possible.
3.5 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland
Nearly 3.5 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland since the Russian war of aggression began on February 24. Poland has granted by far the largest number of Ukraine’s roughly 6.5 million refugees. About 44 million people lived in Ukraine before the start of the war.
Zelensky announces new bilateral talks
According to Zelensky, Ukraine wants to introduce joint customs controls with Poland – this is “the beginning of our integration into the common customs area of the European Union”. Furthermore, Ukrainians in Poland were given “de facto and de jure the same opportunities” as Polish citizens. Zelensky stressed that he wanted to introduce a similar law in Ukraine to show “gratitude” and “respect”.
Zelensky also spoke of a new neighborhood policy with other countries he wants: “We must resolve disputes and remove past pressure from our current relations with all Ukraine’s neighbors who respect us and are not occupiers of our state,” Zelensky said. . .
In the evening, he spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about, among other things, Ukraine’s agricultural exports and fuel imports. Zelensky announced that he would like to hold bilateral talks with other countries next week.