Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes for open borders between Poland and Ukraine, he said during a visit to Warsaw.
Especially in the first days of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine, the places near the border in Poland "opened their doors and there were no borders" between the two countries, Zelensky said on Wednesday at a meeting with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.
This, he said, was the beginning of there being no borders between neighbouring countries in the future.
"No borders in political, economic and - especially important - in historical terms," Zelensky stressed, referring to the difficult Ukrainian-Polish past.
Zelensky thanked Duda and the Poles for the help granted "on the difficult road to [Ukraine's] victory." Ukrainian refugees could "feel at home" in their neighbouring country thanks to the people in Poland and were not just guests.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Poland has granted protection status to around 1.6 million refugees from the neighbouring country.
On Wednesday, Duda awarded Zelensky Poland's highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle. He received the order for his services to the deepening of Polish-Ukrainian relations, his commitment to security and the defence of human rights, Duda said in his tribute.
