Warsaw (EFE).- The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, arrived today in Warsaw, where he will meet his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and the country’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and will deliver a public speech in the afternoon at the Castle plaza.
This is the first official trip of the Ukrainian leader to Poland since the start of the Russian invasion, in February 2022, although in recent months he made some brief stays in the neighboring country, without prior announcement, as well as some technical stops in Polish territory. .
The head of the Polish president’s office, Marcin Przydacz, confirmed to TVN television Zelenski’s arrival in Poland, one of Ukraine’s great Western allies in the face of the Russian invasion war.
High-level meetings with Morawiecki and Duda
The Ukrainian leader will hold high-level meetings with Morawiecki and Duda throughout the day, with whom he will speak late in the afternoon in the Plaza del Castillo.
It is expected that there he will meet with Ukrainians residing in Poland, the member of the European Union (EU) that has welcomed the most refugees from the invaded country since the Russian aggression.
The presidential spokesman had advanced in a first information about the visit that “everyone will be able to see” the president of Ukraine in that place, where giant screens will be installed and a massive attendance is expected.
“It will be a very special visit,” Przydacz said, because although Zelenski has been to Poland several times in the last year, so far it has been unannounced trips.
Przydack also reported last Monday that Ukraine had already transferred to Ukraine a first batch of MiG-29 fighters promised to kyiv, although without specifying how many units.
Duda himself had announced in mid-March that his country would deliver 4 of those Soviet-made combat aircraft while preparing or reviewing other units to be transferred later.
This announcement was followed by that of Slovakia, a country that is expected to deliver another 13 of these aircraft.
In addition to talks on security and the course of the war, the Ukrainian president is expected to discuss with the Polish authorities issues of economic cooperation and the importation of Ukrainian grain into Poland.
On February 10, Zelenski met with Duda in the Polish city of Rzeszów (east), which has become the logistics point for the shipment of arms and supplies to Ukraine from Poland.
Since the start of the invasion, Zelensky has made very few visits abroad. His first visit abroad was in December, when he traveled to the United States, while in February he was in London, Paris and Brussels.
