August 24, 2022 – 2:40AM
Storyful
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday, August 23 — the eve of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day — marking his third visit since Russia launched its invasion on February 24. Footage released by the Ukrainian president’s office shows Zelensky and Duda greeting each other warmly outside the Mariyinsky Palace and engaging in conversation inside. In a brief statements on Facebook, Zelensky lauded Duda’s visit as an affirmation of their countries’ “brotherly” bonds while Duda reiterated his support for Ukraine and his belief that it would win the war. The two leaders then took part in the second annual Crimea Platform summit — a Kyiv-led diplomatic initiative that seeks a reversal of the Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea — along with world leaders including President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian President Justin Trudeau. Speaking at the summit, Duda said the Crimean peninsula was “as much a part of Ukraine as Gdańsk or Lublin are parts of Poland, as Nice is part of France, as Cologne is part of Germany, and just as Rotterdam is part of the Netherlands,” according to the Polish president’s office. Duda said there could be no return to “business as usual” in relations with Russia, so long as Russia wages war and commits atrocities in Ukraine, and occupies Ukraine’s internationally recognized territories. Credit: Volodomyr Zelensky via Storyful