Andrzej Duda’s words came at a joint news conference with the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian presidents after their return to Poland on Thursday morning, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
On Wednesday, the four leaders travelled to the Ukrainian capital for face-to-face talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On arriving back in Poland, Duda, Lithuania's Gitanas Nausėda, Latvia's Egils Levits and Estonia's Alar Karis met with reporters at Jasionka Airport in the southeastern city of Rzeszów.
‘Visible sign of support’
The Polish president thanked his Baltic counterparts for “the important joint visit to Kyiv.”
“We hope it was a visible sign of support for the defenders of Ukraine,” he added.
‘Ukraine is suffering and bleeding'
Duda told reporters: “Ukraine is suffering and bleeding. It needs symbolic, political as well as material support.”
He added: “We need to have a conversation about financial assistance for the reconstruction of the country. I am confident that as the international community, we’ll prove up to the task."
‘I’ll remember this visit for the rest of my life’
Earlier in the morning, Duda spoke to reporters at a train station in the southeastern Polish city of Przemyśl.
Reflecting on his trip to Kyiv, he said: “It was one of those visits that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
The president said that "particularly unforgettable images" included "the battlefield in Borodyanka," a town near Kyiv "destroyed by Russian rockets;” the Ukrainian capital “ready to defend itself;” and “the extraordinary determination of the Ukrainian people to defend their homeland”, the PAP news agency reported.
'Russia is waging a total war'
Duda added that Russia was waging “a total war against the whole Ukrainian nation," including women and children.
‘Ukraine needs military aid’
The Polish president told reporters that “Ukraine needs military aid - there are big hearts there, determined to defend their homeland at all cost.”
He said: “It is my belief that Ukraine will win and remain a free, sovereign country."
Thursday is day 50 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source, IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl