Zelenskyy says met Duda in Poland on way back to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he stopped in Poland on his return to Ukraine after visiting the United States and met President Andrzej Duda.

“On the way home, I had a meeting with a friend of Ukraine -- President of Poland Andrzej Duda. We summed up the year, which brought historic challenges due to a full-scale war,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.

Images showed the Ukrainian leader welcomed by officials on the tarmac of Rzeszow airport before meeting his Polish counterpart.

“We discussed strategic plans for the future, bilateral relations and interactions at the international level in 2023,” Zelenskyy added.

Ukraine's neighbor Poland has been one of its staunchest allies against Moscow's invasion.

Zelenskyy said he “thanked Andrzej Duda for the strong support to Ukrainians from Poland and its citizens.”

The two leaders “discussed a wide range of topics with an emphasis on strengthening the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian state and humanitarian issues,” the Ukrainian presidency said.

Zelenskyy was on his way back from the United States, where he appealed for long-term US support on his first foreign trip since Russia's invasion.

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