Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Czech Republic’s Petr Fiala and Slovenia’s Janez Janša met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Poland's conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who is deputy prime minister in charge of security, also took part in the trip, which aimed to show solidarity with Ukraine on behalf of the European Union, according to officials in Warsaw.
Piotr Müller, the spokesman for the Polish government, announced via Twitter on Wednesday morning that “the Polish, Slovenian and Czech delegations safely returned from Kyiv to Poland.”
Müller also said that, upon their return from Kyiv, the three prime ministers spoke to European Council President Charles Michel.
Meanwhile, Morawiecki’s chief of staff, Michał Dworczyk, tweeted: “Welcome home! Thanks to your personal courage, Ukraine received strong support and the world looks at Poland and East-Central Europe with respect!”
The four were the first foreign leaders to visit the Ukrainian capital since Russia invaded last month, news agencies reported.
The trip took place at a time when Kyiv was under Russian attacks, with two powerful explosions rocking the city before dawn on Tuesday and two people reported dead after an apartment building was struck, according to the Reuters news agency.
The Polish-Czech-Slovenian delegation made the trip to Ukraine by a special train on behalf of the European Council, officials told reporters.
Before departing from the Ukrainian capital, the Polish prime minister had a talk with his country's ambassador to Ukraine, Bartosz Cichocki, the PAP news agency reported on Wednesday.
‘We’ll never leave you alone’: Polish PM
After the talks with Ukraine’s leaders, Poland's Morawiecki said that the European Union should grant Ukraine candidate status as soon as possible.
“It must invite Ukraine to the bloc,” he added, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
The Polish prime minister also said that Ukraine must have defensive weaponry to respond to the Russian attack.
“You have to have all of this, and we’ll be trying to organise it from around the world,” he declared.
“We’ll never leave you alone,” Morawiecki pledged. “We won’t leave you, because we know that you’re fighting not just for your own homes, your own homeland, freedom and security, but for ours, too.”
He later tweeted that without Ukraine, Europe “will no longer be Europe.”
'Need for peacekeeping mission' in Ukraine: Poland's Kaczyński
Meanwhile, Poland's Kaczyński said that “there is a need for a peacekeeping mission by NATO, maybe also by some wider international body” in Ukraine, "a mission that will be able to defend itself, and which will operate on Ukrainian territory; a mission that seeks peace, that provides humanitarian aid, and one that will be shielded by relevant forces, armed forces."
He called on the world to "back up its words of respect and solidarity” towards Ukraine with “deeds” and “courage, which unfortunately is often lacking.”
'Very strong, courageous, friendly step': Ukraine’s Zelensky
Ukraine’s Zelensky thanked the EU politicians for visiting his country amid the Russian invasion.
He said: “These people, leaders of their wonderful, independent states, are not afraid. They are more concerned about our fate and are here to support us and it is a very strong, courageous, friendly step.”
Zelensky added: “I am convinced that with such friends, with such states, neighbours, partners we will indeed make it and we are going to win."
Wednesday is day 21 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, IAR, Reuters
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Elżbieta Krajewska.