Polish president pays surprise visit to Kyiv

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is ending his term of office in just over a month, on Saturday went on a previously unannounced visit to Kyiv.

Fot. PAP/ Vladyslav Musiienko

The Polish President's Office in its Saturday morning post on the X platform also attached a video showing Duda's welcome as he gets off a train in Kyiv.

June 28 is Ukraine's Constitution Day.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X: "I was pleased to greet Ukraine's true friend, Andrzej Duda, at Kyiv Central Station this morning.

"President Duda has stood by Ukraine's side during the most difficult times of Russia's full-scale aggression.

"We are grateful to him and all Poles who have shown true solidarity with Ukraine. Our guest will celebrate Ukraine's Constitution Day with us and meet with President @ZelenskyyUa (Volodymyr Zelensky - PAP)," Sybiha concluded.

Together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Duda laid wreaths at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine, which honours Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers and uniformed servicepeople who have died since Moscow launched its first aggressive actions against Kyiv in 2014, annexing the Crimean Peninsula and supporting the breakaway of Ukraine's eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Later on Saturday, Zelensky's office published an announcement that the Ukrainian president awarded Duda with the Order of Liberty, the highest Ukrainian distinction that can be granted to a foreign national.

The office said Duda had received the order for his "outstanding personal merits in strengthening Ukrainian-Polish international cooperation, supporting the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

At a joint press conference that followed, Duda said: "As the president of the Republic of Poland, I never doubted that standing by Ukraine, represented by President Volodymyr Zelensky, is very important for Poland's security."

Zelensky said that Poland had always stood by Ukraine in its discussions with the European Union, NATO and other partners. He personally thanked Duda for everything the two men had accomplished together, adding that Ukraine would strive to strengthen its relations with Poland and fulfil Polish-Ukrainian defence commitments.

Meanwhile, in a post on X on Saturday, the Polish foreign ministry offered wishes to Ukraine on its national holiday.

"On Constitution Day, we express our solidarity with Ukraine, especially in the face of its heroic struggle for freedom and independence," the ministry wrote. "We wish for the democratic values enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution to soon be restored in the currently occupied territories."

Duda has visited Kyiv several times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His second five-year term of office ends on August 6. Duda's successor, right-wing historian Karol Nawrocki, is less enthusiastic about Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, unlike Duda, who has supported Kyiv's ambitions throughout his term. (PAP)

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