President Duda in Kiev: no return to business as usual with Russia

Warsaw is one of Kyiv's strongest supporters and nearly six million Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border into Poland since Russia invaded their country on Feb. 24. Poland, a NATO and European Union member state, has often criticised some other EU nations for not doing more to help Ukraine.

Poland, which spent decades under Soviet domination from Moscow after World War Two, is the third largest provider of military support to Ukraine behind the United States and Britain, according to the Warsaw government.

Duda and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy met to discuss military backing for Ukraine and the political support Poland could offer to convince other countries to keep helping Kyiv, Duda's office chief told reporters earlier on Tuesday.

Duda has met Zelenskiy five times this year, including on three visits he has made to Ukraine since the start of the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

Speaking at a summit of the Crimea Platform on Tuesday, a forum that seeks to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and an end to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Duda urged global leaders not to turn a blind eye on Russian aggression.

"Crimea was, remains and will be a part of Ukraine just like Gdańsk is a part of Poland, Nice is a part of France, Cologne is a part of Germany, and Rotterdam is a part of Netherlands," Duda said.

"There's no return to business as usual with Russia, for sure there is no return to business as usual when Russia is attacking and occupying legally recognised Ukrainian territory," Polish president stressed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the international conference on Crimea that regaining control of the peninsula, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move not recognized by most other countries, would be the "biggest anti-war step."

"Where it all began, it will end there," Zelenskiy said in an opening address to the Crimea Platform, a forum that seeks to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and end Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"To overcome terror, to return guarantees and security to our region, to Europe, to the whole world, it is necessary to gain victory in the fight against Russian aggression."

"It is necessary to liberate Crimea from occupation," he said. "This will be effective resuscitation of world law and order."

Zelenskiy said representatives of about 60 states and international organizations were taking part in the summit, including about 40 presidents and prime ministers. Almost all were participating online but Polish President Andrzej Duda attended during a visit to Kyiv.

Russia shows no sign of abandoning Crimea, home to its Black Sea fleet, and has used the peninsula as a platform to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian targets.

"Ukraine's restoration of control over the Crimea peninsula will be an historic anti-war step in Europe."

He said Russia had turned Crimea into "an ecological disaster zone and a military springboard for aggression," using it to fire 750 cruise missiles at "cities and communities."

Russia was unable to verify how many missiles have been launched from Crimea during the conflict.