Polish leader attends Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv

Polish President Andrzej Duda has arrived in Kyiv to participate in the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24.

This day marks the 1991 adoption of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence by the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Caliber.Az reports via Polish media.

"President Andrzej Duda's visit to Ukraine has begun," the president's office announced on the X platform, highlighting his involvement in Kyiv’s Independence Day festivities. The announcement included a video of Duda’s arrival and warm reception in the Ukrainian capital.

This visit is Duda's fifth trip to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

On February 23, 2022, Duda, alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, visited Kyiv ahead of the Russian invasion. "Today, with the President of Lithuania, we come to Kyiv in solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people, urging Russia for peace and calm," Duda stated, reflecting on the tense period before the full-scale attack.

Following the invasion, Duda, Nauseda, and the presidents of Latvia and Estonia — Egils Levits and Alar Karis — returned to Kyiv on April 13, 2022. This marked the first visit by foreign heads of state to the Ukrainian capital since the war began. The leaders met with Zelenskyy and visited the liberated towns of Bucha, Borodyanka, and Irpin to see the damage caused by Russian forces firsthand.

On May 22, 2022, Duda made another visit to Kyiv, becoming the first foreign leader to address the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada since the invasion began. "Poland supports Ukraine and will continue to do so. I will not rest until Ukraine is a full member of the European Union," he declared.

In August 2022, Duda travelled to Kyiv again at Zelenskyy’s invitation to participate in the Crimean Platform summit. At the summit, he emphasized that Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, should be returned to Ukraine. "Crimea is as much a part of Ukraine as Gdansk is of Poland, Nice of France, Cologne of Germany, or Rotterdam of the Netherlands," he asserted.

Duda and Nauseda made another visit to Kyiv in late June 2023, just before the July NATO summit in Vilnius. After meeting with Zelenskyy, Duda expressed hope that the upcoming NATO summit would offer a clear path for Ukraine’s membership in the alliance.