By: J.S., STA
The prime ministers of Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv on Tuesday evening. Zelensky thanked them for the “strong sign of support.”
“Your visit to Kyiv at this difficult time for Ukraine is a strong sign of support. We really appreciate it,” Zelensky said in a message on his official Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian side circulated several videos showing Slovenia’s Janez Janša, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki and Czechia’s Petr Fiala in a meeting with the Ukrainian leadership.
Janša told the press after the meeting that the prime ministers had come to express support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom and democracy.
“We’re here to admire your courage and your fight, which is destroying the myth of the invincible Russian army,” he said, adding that Ukraine was defending not just its territory but also fundamental European values.
He said Ukraine was a European country and “we will do everything in our power … to deliver candidate status for Ukraine as soon as possible.”
This would be a message that “you are part of our family and that our family is prepared to defend and support Ukraine.”
Janša noted that the atmosphere in the EU had “changed considerably,” Europeans having recognised that Ukrainians were fighting for European values.
The three prime ministers headed to Kyiv by train today, the first foreign leaders to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
Janša said on route to Kyiv that they would deliver the message Ukraine was a European country that would soon be on a path to the EU.