Ukraine's Zelenskiy stops over in Poland to award two volunteers
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy awarded two Polish volunteers state awards during a stopover on Saturday, but did not meet any officials as relations between the two countries are strained over grain imports, Reuters reports.
Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv's relationship with a neighbour that has been one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
Poland's prime minister told Zelenskiy on Friday not to "insult" Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv ahead of elections on October 15. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been criticised by the far right for what it says is the government's subservient attitude to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the "political theatre" around imports was only helping Moscow.
While in Lublin on my way back to Ukraine, I was honored to award two prominent Poles, volunteers, Bianka Zalewska and Damian Duda, Ukrainian state awards.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 23, 2023
Bianka is a journalist for TVN Discovery Poland who has helped provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians and transport wounded… pic.twitter.com/96Jl2h7gsu
On Saturday, on his way back home, he handed awards to Bianka Zalewska, a journalist who helped transport wounded children to Polish hospitals, and Damian Duda, who gathered a medical team to help wounded soldiers near the front line.
Zelenskiy thanked all Poles who "from the first days opened their families, their homes, opened themselves up and helped".
