The Polish and Baltic presidents were headed to Kyiv by train on Wednesday, April 13, to show support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky against the Russian invasion, officials said.
“Our aim is to support President Zelensky and the defenders of Ukraine in this decisive moment for the country,” Polish presidential adviser Jakub Kumoch was quoted by PAP news agency as saying.
The programme of the visit has not being disclosed for security reasons but the presidents are due to visit “the most important areas from a symbolic point of view”, he said.
Before boarding the train for Kyiv, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Estonia’s Alar Karis, Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda and Latvia’s Egils Levits met in the Polish city of Rzeszow near the Ukraine border.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Poland on Tuesday and said he had planned to go on to Ukraine but was turned down.
“I was prepared to do this, but apparently, and I must take note of this, this was not wanted in Kyiv,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Steinmeier, a former foreign minister, is facing criticism at home and abroad for his years-long detente policy towards Moscow, which he has since admitted was a mistake.
