Presidents of Poland, Baltic states visit Kyiv \ News \ Oficjalna strona Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

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13 kwietnia 2022

Andrzej Duda travelled to Ukraine on Wednesday with the presidents of the Baltic states to meet Volodymyr Zelenski in a demonstration of support for the Ukrainian president and his country.

The presidents also travelled to liberated towns near Kyiv to see first–hand the destruction wrought on Ukraine by the Russians.

The Polish president said after meeting Zelensky that the perpetrators of war crimes must be held to account at every level, from individual soldiers to their commanders, and tried by international courts.

He said prosecutors were gathering evidence where mass murder had been committed and that it was „unthinkable that such things happen in the modern world.”

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„It's not war, it's terrorism, when soldiers are sent to murder civilians,” Duda said, adding that it was a face of war that could not be accepted.

„All the time, from Kyiv, from the places that have experienced Russian aggression, must come an appeal to the international community that the opposition be decisive,” Duda continued. „There can be no dialogue with those who break all the rules.”

The Polish president said Russia's mentality had not changed and that he and his peers could not accept that. „We deeply believe that the decent part of the contemporary world also doesn't agree (to it) and will express that,” he said.

Andrzej Duda also said he hoped Ukraine would soon become part of the European Union as a free and sovereign state taking its own decisions.

President Zelensky thanked the „wonderful leaders” of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, who had been with his country „arm in arm” since the beginning, going on to say that, „having such partners and friends, for sure we'll win.”

Andrzej Duda travelled to Ukraine with Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania and the presidents of Latvia and Estonia, Egils Levits and Alar Karis.

Jakub Kumoch, the chief foreign policy advisor to the Polish president, said earlier that Poland was organising the trip and, together with Ukraine, ensuring its logistics and security.

It was the first visit to Ukraine by heads of state since the outbreak of war. Presidents Duda and Nauseda last visited Zelensky the day before Russia invaded.

„The Baltic states are our key partners in security matters in the region... we decided to go to Kyiv together. Our goal is to show support to President Zelensky and the defenders of Ukraine in a decisive moment for this country,” Kumoch told PAP.

Prior to meeting Zelensky, the four heads of state visited the town of Borodyanka, near Kyiv, to inspect the damage inflicted on Ukraine by Russia’s armed forces.

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