Beyond its many concrete aspects, the visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, April 5, of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, had a strong symbolic significance. It was his first state visit abroad since the invasion of his country by Russia, announced in advance, and carried out in the company of his wife, Olena Zelenska. His previous trips to Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels were so-called working visits, kept in the greatest secrecy until the last moment. Although he has not shed his warlord outfit, sweatshirt and khaki pants, the message sent to Moscow, as well as to his own compatriots, is clear: the Ukrainian president now feels sufficiently security to be able to normalize their movements.
Above all, Volodymyr Zelensky warmly thanked the Polish people and authorities for their unconditional support from the first hours of the conflict, both from a political point of view and for welcoming Ukrainian refugees – 2.5 million in spring 2022. , 1.5 million today. His counterpart, Andrzej Duda, has visited Ukraine four times since the start of the war, and the Polish ambassador, Bartosz Cichocki, was the only European Union (EU) diplomat not to leave Kyiv in when Russian tanks were heading towards the capital. The comings and goings of Polish diplomatic delegations were incessant.
“I wanted to thank you for being our advocate within the European Union, and highlighted by M. Zelensky. You have contributed a great deal to the granting of candidate status to Ukraine. The fact that the EU looks at us in this way, on an equal footing, is a huge motivation for our soldiers. “We will rebuild Ukraine even more beautiful than it was, a promis M. Duda. We hope that the physical border between our two countries will be erased and that our citizens will be able to move about forgetting that this border ever existed. I have no doubt that one day it will. » Then, he decorated his host with the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish distinction.
” Without compromise “
Nor did the Ukrainian president leave empty-handed. After recalling the military situation around the city of Bakhmout, “the most difficult it is”, and the “cruel lack of artillery and ammunition” faced by his army, he obtained significant new military material aid: 150 units of Rosomak infantry fighting vehicles, at least 24 Rak howitzers and Piorun very short-range surface-to-air missiles, Polish production equipment.
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