Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Poland on April 5. This is his first trip abroad announced since the start of the military operation, said the spokesman for the Ukrainian president, Sergei Nikiforov. In Poland, Zelenskyy meets with President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, business representatives, volunteers, rescuers and mayors of border towns, and in the evening he will deliver a speech to Poles and Ukrainians who live Poland. About the significance of Zelenskyy’s visit to Warsaw – in The Eastern Herald material.
Zelenskyy is accompanied on the trip by his wife Elena. The main topic of negotiations between the leaders of the two countries will be defense issues, Nikiforov said. We will also talk about the economy, sanctions on rail traffic and the expansion of border crossing possibilities, transmits Interfax-Ukraine.
“This is indeed the President’s first visit to Poland, because we used to travel through his territory to other countries, namely, we are deliberately going to Poland for the first time since the beginning (of hostilities )”, quotes RBC-Ukraine. Nikiforov.
Office of the President of Poland reported that the negotiations between Duda and Zelenskyy will cover “the whole spectrum of Polish-Ukrainian relations”, while the subject of security policy will dominate. “We want to conduct these negotiations in a spirit of reflection on the future,” said Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president’s office for foreign affairs.
The talks will also focus on military assistance to Ukraine, the restoration of the country after the end of hostilities and Ukraine’s path to NATO and the European Union, informed RMF FM. Zelenskyy and Morawiecki are expected to sign an agreement to include Polish companies in the process of rebuilding Ukraine.
The wives of the presidents of the two countries will implement a separate program dedicated to the situation of refugees, the Polish leader’s office said.
Since the start of hostilities, Zelenskyy has met Duda twice during his transit through Poland: in December 2022 and February 2023. Duda has visited Ukraine four times: in April, May and August last year, as well as in January 2023.
special relationship
How writing Kommersant, Zelenskyy’s first full-fledged visit to Warsaw should underline Poland’s “special importance” to Ukraine, placing it “on an equal footing with the United States, France and Britain – the main Ukrainian allies”.
Poland has sent Ukraine “a disproportionate amount of equipment and assistance”, 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees live there, Remarks The New York Times.
A senior US official told the publication that the level of support NATO is currently providing to Ukraine would be hard to imagine without Poland’s role.
The Washington Post remember that Poland was the first NATO member country to respond to Ukraine’s requests for fighter jets. Warsaw also played an important role in persuading other Western countries to supply Ukraine with tanks and other weapons, Remarks France 24.
The special relationship between the two countries is also indicated by the fact that the name of Polish President Andrzej Duda was the first to be engraved on the memorial plaque in the Alley of the Brave in Kiev, dedicated to “supporters of Ukraine who visit the beleaguered capital,” the NYT adds.
Former Polish Land Forces Commander General Waldemar Skrzypczak in an interview Rzeczpospolita expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian President is preparing the ground for possible negotiations “on the future of Ukraine”. The visit to Warsaw could be the first in a series of visits by Zelenskyy, “who will build a coalition for his support” in the event of such negotiations, Skrzypczak said.
Zelenskyy’s trip comes in the context of an expected counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov confirmed in an interview with New Voice on April 5 that a counter-offensive was being prepared, but there is no exact date for its start, as many factors affect, including weather and ground conditions. According to Reznikov, the “best time” will be determined by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the end of March, the minister announced that the counter-offensive would begin in April-May.
What is known about the preparation of the retaliatory offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, The Eastern Herald said here
