Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Poland for an official visit

Published on : 04/05/2023 – 07:39Modified : 04/05/2023 – 08:59

• 8:19 a.m.: Zelensky arrived in Poland

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Poland on Wednesday morning for his first official visit to the country, the Polish presidency said.

“Mr. President has crossed the Polish border. He is on Polish territory,” Marcin Przydacz, an adviser to the Polish presidency, told TVN24 television, without giving details. A formal welcoming ceremony is to be held at 11 a.m. (1300 GMT) outside the presidential palace in Warsaw, he added.

Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other officials to discuss “security, international and economic relations but also delicate historical issues” between the two countries, said Marcin Przydacz .

• 6:18 a.m .: Zelensky expected in Poland, key ally of kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on Wednesday visiting Poland, a key ally of Ukraine, which has played a leading role in encouraging Western military and political support for Kiev since the start of the Russian invasion.

This visit, announced last week by Warsaw, but which has not been officially confirmed by Kyiv, comes as Ukraine prepares to carry out, in the weeks or months to come, a counter-attack to retake occupied territories. in the east and south of the country.

“This visit should be taken as a sign of confidence and thanks to Poland and the Poles,” Foreign Affairs adviser to the Polish President Marcin Przydacz said on Tuesday evening.

• 12:50 a.m.: uRussian official targeted by ICC to speak at UN meeting

Russian Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, targeted by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), is due to intervene virtually on Wednesday during an informal meeting of the Security Council organized by Russia on the Ukraine.

This announced participation provoked the anger of the United Kingdom, which indicated that it had blocked the planned broadcast of the event on the UN website. “If she wants to account for her actions, let her do it in The Hague”, headquarters of the ICC, added a spokesman for the British mission.

• April 4th essentials

Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday, a strategic turning point caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which promises “countermeasures” and qualifies the enlargement of this Western alliance as an “attack to his safety”. In the case of the Russian blogger killed in Saint Petersburg in a bomb attack, a suspect has been charged with “terrorism”.

With AFP and Reuters