President Duda: Poland and Slovakia to lobby for Ukraine's quick EU accession

At a joint conference Duda said that Poland was supporting Ukraine with humanitarian aid as well as militarily, by sending its eastern neighbours army equipment so that they could defend their country.

He also stressed that the Ukrainians were also defending Europe, especially Central Europe, against "ambitions and imperial actions of today's Russia".

"We also know how much the Ukrainian people need to feel today that it is accepted by the West, and that's why the idea to grant Ukraine the status of EU candidate state is so important," the president said.

President Duda also informed he had accepted president Caputova's proposal to "undertake a certain mission of lobbying for Ukraine among our friends from the European Union countries in Western Europe". "Especially where there are still concerns as to whether Ukraine should receive this status quickly," he added.

"We have absolutely no doubt that it (Ukraine) should be granted this status as soon as possible and we shall work towards this in various places," the president assured.

Andrzej Duda was also asked by reporters on whether Russia was achieving its military goals in Ukraine.

"When a state which considers itself an empire, with a huge army and large amounts of equipment, clashes with an army of a much smaller state and is not able to win, then it's an actual military defeat," he said.

"Politically, in my opinion, it is a disaster for Russia," he added.

The president also said that we would be allowed to speak about Russia's military and political victory, if it took control of Ukraine in 72 hours. "The Russian army is incurring huge losses and is not able to defeat the Ukrainian army, nor the heroism of the Ukrainian people".

The presidents were also asked about the unity of the EU in the context of sanctions against Russia.

President Duda said that some countries were still largely dependent on supplies from Russia. "Hungary is exactly such a country. So from this point of view, we might say that Prime Minister Viktor Orban's approach is understandable," he said.

"He is just worried that if deliveries of Russian gas and oil to Hungary stop, Hungary's economy would have huge problems, which could result in huge problems for the Hungarian people," Polish president said.

He stressed, however, that a question remained "if, in that case, Hungary is planning any action that would lead to gaining diversification options". "I believe we need to speak with our Hungarian colleagues. After all, they are our partners with whom we are together in the European Union, NATO, Three Seas Initiative, as well as other formats," Andrzej Duda said.

After the press conference, president Duda also met with Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger, and later with the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Boris Kollar.