President Duda to take part in Ukraine independence anniversary - News - National Security Bureau

09.07.2016

President Duda to take part in Ukraine independence anniversary

President Andrzej Duda on Saturday met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss military, economic and political cooperation, according to presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski.

Poland and Ukraine will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's independence together on August 24, according to Krzysztof Szczerski. President Duda "has decided to visit Kiev on the day that Ukraine celebrates its independence", he said.
 
"We will seek to make sure ... that President Poroshenko visits Poland on the 25th anniversary of Poland's recognition of Ukraine's independence", Szczerski added.
 
Poland was the first country to recognise Ukraine's independence, on December 2, 1991.
 
The Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian brigade was mentioned as a model of military cooperation, Szczerski also said. He described the brigade as an initiative showing how military cooperation between NATO and Ukraine can be carried out in practice. It really increases Ukraine's level of defence through training and joint military exercises, he added.
 
"Today it is important to support the countries that assumed responsibility (for resolving the conflict in Ukraine, namely France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia - PAP); this is the responsibility of the signatory countries, and we should give them our support", Szczerski said when asked whether Duda and Poroshenko had discussed the possibility of Poland's participation in the peace talks.
 
Ukraine "is very high on the list of Polish priorities in international policy", Szczerski pointed out, adding that President Duda mentioned the issue of peace in Ukraine to all his interlocutors, making Poland an active participant in a discussion broader than just the Normandy format or the Minsk accords.
 
The NATO-Ukraine meeting at the heads of state level during the NATO summit in Warsaw had been President Duda's initiative, the presidential aide also pointed out. "We are glad that this initiative gained the support of all the allies", he said.
 
NATO reaffirmed its support for Ukraine, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said in Warsaw on Saturday. 
 

Source: PAP; president.pl