Sunday, May 08, 2022

Trudeau visits Irpin as diplomats, politicians return to Ukraine


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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Irpin, Ukraine, on Sunday as a slew of diplomats and politicians traveled to the country ahead of Victory in Europe Day. 

Photo courtesy Oleksandr Markushyn/Facebook

May 8 (UPI) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine on Sunday as a slew of diplomats and politicians traveled to the country ahead of Victory in Europe Day.

Trudeau announced his visit in a message on Twitter and said that he had traveled with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly.

"We're here to show our support for Ukraine and its people," Trudeau said. "Our message to President [Volodymyr Zelensky] and Ukrainians is this: Canada will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine."

His visit was confirmed by Oleksandr Markushyn, the mayor of the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. The town suffered destruction as Russian forces attempted to assault the capital before refocusing the war to eastern Ukraine.

"He came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city," Markushyn said.

"And, of course, he was shocked. After all, he saw burned and completely destroyed not military facilities, but the homes of Irpin residents, who until recently enjoyed life and had their own plans for the future."


Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Irpin, Ukraine, on Sunday.
 Photo courtesy Oleksandr Markushyn/Facebook

Markushyn thanked Trudeau for Canada's support for the country and said he believed the country's would continue to cooperate as Ukrainians work to rebuild their cities.

Trudeau's visit came as first lady Jill Biden on Sunday also made an unannounced trip to Ukraine where she met with first lady Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a school near the border with Slovakia.

Kristina Kvien, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, returned to Kyiv on Sunday with a group of diplomats for the first time since before Russia invaded on Feb. 24.

Zelensky on Sunday met with Bärbel Blas, the president of Germany's parliament, in Kyiv as the countries commemorated the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945.

The visit by Blas was the first by a German official since the countries mended a diplomatic disagreement over a decision by Ukrainian officials last month to uninvite federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier over his past Russian ties.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also visited Ukraine on Sunday and met with Zelensky, who thanked him for his support of Ukraine.

"Croatia is a principled member of our anti-war coalition," Zelensky said. "Together we defend the right not only of our citizens, not only of the citizens of Ukraine, but also of every European nation to an independent and democratic life."

Zelensky said he discussed with Plenković a sixth sanctions package from the European Union and membership in the international organization.

Masud Gharahkhani, the president of Norway's unicameral legislature, also met with Zelensky on Sunday and said he was "deeply shocked" by the Russian occupation in Irpin and Bucha in the Kyiv region.

Jill Biden makes unannounced visit to Ukraine


First lady Jill Biden on Sunday made an unannounced trip to Ukraine where she met with first lady Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a school near the border with Slovakia. Photo courtesy Jill Biden/Twitter

May 8 (UPI) -- First lady Jill Biden on Sunday made an unannounced trip to Ukraine where she met with first lady Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a school near the border with Slovakia.

"On this Mother's Day, my heart is with you, First Lady Olena Zelenska, and all of the brave and resilient mothers of Ukraine," Biden said on Twitter after the visit.

In a photo shared by Biden, she can be seen carrying flowers for her Ukrainian counterpart as the women embrace in a hug.

Biden met with Zelenska at a school in Uzhhorod, a town just a few miles from the border with Slovakia which is being used as a shelter for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

"We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war, where the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day, even today," Zelenska told reporters after the hour-long visit.

Biden is the latest high-profile official to visit Ukraine after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of lawmakers to the country last Sunday. Before Pelosi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited with officials in Kyiv.


Jill Biden (2-R), accompanied by the wife of the President of Romania, Carmen Iohannis (L), meets with Ukrainian refugee children in their classroom in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday. Her visit to Romania is part of a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia to highlight the United States' commitment to Ukrainian refugees. Photo by Cristian Nistor/EPA-EFE
President Joe Biden, who has not visited Ukraine, made a trip to Warsaw, Poland, in March during which he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power."

Jill Biden's trip to Ukraine came amid a trip to Europe that included visiting with Ukrainian refugees in a school in Romania.

On Saturday, she visited Scoala Gimnaziala Uruguay, a Romanian school in Bucharest that had opened its classrooms to Ukrainian refugee students, alongside Romania's first lady Carmen lohannis.

Before crossing the border into Ukraine on Sunday, Biden -- a professor at Northern Virginia Community College -- had visited the Tomasikova Street School in Slovakia on Sunday to meet with students and teachers.


Jill Biden, right, has met with teachers and students in Slovakia and Romania during a trip to express the United States' support for refugees. Photo courtesy Jill Biden/Twitter

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