Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized good relations with neighboring Poland. They maintain a sincere base, “no bickering and the old legacy of conflict,” Zelenskyy said in a video message yesterday. This is a historic achievement.
Polish President Andrzej Duda yesterday became the first foreign head of state to address the Ukrainian parliament since the start of the Russian invasion. He spoke of the intention to conclude a Polish-Ukrainian friendship agreement. Duda is also committed to ensuring that the neighboring country receives EU candidate status as soon as possible.
Joint Customs Control
Nearly 3.5 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland since the start of the Russian war of aggression. Poland has granted by far the largest number of Ukraine’s roughly 6.5 million refugees. About 44 million people lived in Ukraine before the start of the war.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine wants to introduce joint customs control with Poland – this is “the beginning of our integration into the common customs area of the European Union”. Furthermore, Ukrainians in Poland were given “de facto and de jure the same opportunities” as Polish citizens. Zelenskyy stressed that he wanted to introduce a law in Ukraine to show “gratitude” and “respect”.
“Resolving Disputes”
Zelenskyy also spoke of a new neighborhood policy with other countries he wants: “We need to resolve disputes and remove past pressure from our current relations with all Ukraine’s neighbors who respect us and are not occupiers of our state,” Zelenskyy said. .
In the evening, he spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about, among other things, Ukraine’s agricultural exports and fuel imports. Zelenskyy announced that he would like to hold bilateral talks with other countries next week.