Ukraine's Zelenskiy hails ties as Poland's Duda vows further support

Warsaw has positioned itself as one of Kyiv's staunchest allies, playing a leading role in persuading sometimes reluctant allies to provide it with heavy weaponry. On Wednesday President Andrzej Duda said Poland would supply Ukraine with a total of 14 MiG-29 fighter jets.

"Four MiG-29s that remained in storage have been handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in recent months. Four MiGs are now being given, so eight in total. We are ready, as I told the president, to give six more that are currently being prepared. We assume they could be transferred soon," Poland's president said.

Duda also awarded his Ukrainian counterpart the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honour.

"You have stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and we are grateful for it," Zelenskiy said after receiving the award. "I believe that these are historic relations, a historic result, and historic strength between our countries."

President Duda said he was confident that Ukraine would emerge victorious from the conflict.

"Today they fight against the Russian aggressor. I really believe that such guarantees will work for Ukraine as a beginning, I repeat, a beginning, of Ukraine's future membership in full, of the North Atlantic alliance," he added.

"We have no doubt that your conduct combined with the heroism of Ukrainian soldiers saved Ukraine," he said "We have no doubt that your conduct is saving Europe from a deluge of Russian imperialism."

Asked what Zelenskiy's visit meant to her, Ukrainian refugee Olena, 46, gave a thumbs up before bursting into tears.

"If it weren't for him there would be no Ukraine by now," she said as she passed the presidential palace, adding that she was grateful to Poland for being able to stay and work in the country.

President Zelenskiy, who was due to attend an economic forum later on Wednesday, invited Polish businesses to come to Ukraine before the war ends to secure a better position on Ukrainian markets as well as in the country's reconstruction drive.

"We are very interested in Poland taking a significant part in rebuilding Ukraine, and not only at the state level. We are very interested in business coming in. We have many different projects. I know that you have many different businesses that are ready to come in, that have experience, desire, people, personnel, and money," Ukraine's leader said.

The visit to Poland, which has taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees over the past 13 months of war, comes as Ukraine plans to conduct a counter-offensive in the coming weeks or months to recapture land in its east and south from Russia.

Zelenskiy said on Wednesday the situation in the Ukrainian eastern city of Bakhmut was really difficult and that the "corresponding decisions" would be taken if Kyiv's troops there risk being encircled by Russian forces.

"You know exactly what the situation is in Bakhmut. The most difficult situation on the territory of our country is there. The largest use of various weapons, artillery, is there. It's a very, very complicated story there. And every day there is a shortage, either we have enough artillery, shells on our side, or we have less. This happens every day," he explained.

"So we have success in some blocks of Bakhmut, we move forward, or we don't, and we retreat to our positions again. But we are in Bakhmut and the enemy does not control Bakhmut."

"We are here in Warsaw. But there are our people in the trenches of Bakhmut, Mariinka, Avdiivka - there are our people, real warriors, men, women, absolutely strong people, whom we are unfortunately losing every day because of Russia," he stressed.

"For me, the most important is not to lose our soldiers and of course if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger we could lose our personnel because of encirclement - of course the corresponding correct decisions will be taken by generals there. I am sure about that," Zelenskiy added.

"However, the more relevant ammunition comes to Ukraine, the faster we will be able to overcome the situation not only in Bakhmut but throughout the territory of our country."

"I would like to thank you for the powerful defence package that will strengthen our soldiers and protect their lives, because they risk their lives for the sake of, I am sure you understand, not only the lives of Ukrainians, but for the sake of the future lives of your children, the children of Europe," Ukrainian leader underscored.

President Duda said on Wednesday that Poland is working towards getting additional security guarantees for Ukraine at a NATO summit to be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July.

"Now, at the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius which will be in summer this year, we are trying to achieve additional security guarantees which will strengthen the Ukrainian military potential, which will also strengthen Ukrainians' feeling of security, but which will also be a very important support to the moral of the defenders of Ukraine," Duda stressed.

In addition to MiG-29 jets, Ukraine officials have also pressed for F-16 jet fighters to boost Kyiv's ability to hit Russian missile units with U.S.-made rockets but Duda's foreign policy adviser Marcin Przydacz said Poland would not decide any time soon on whether to send any.

"F-16s are protecting Poland's skies." he said. "There are absolutely no such decisions at this stage."

The Polish public overwhelmingly supports Ukrainians in their war with Russia. An Ipsos poll said 82% of Poles think NATO and European Union countries should back Ukraine until it wins.

Nonetheless, Zelenskiy's visit takes place amid mounting anger in rural Poland over the impact of imports of Ukrainian grain, which have pushed down prices in several states in the EU's eastern wing -- something the Polish prime minister had said would come under discussion.

Tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural imports may need to be reintroduced if an influx of products pushing down prices in European Union markets cannot be halted by other means, the premiers of five eastern states said in a letter published on Friday to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Poland's Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk resigned on Wednesday as a result of the crisis.