Ireland ready to help Ukraine including sending peacekeepers - Prime Minister
Photo: Michel Martin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (president.gov.ua)
On Thursday, February 27, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Shannon Airport. This happened in the afternoon while the Ukrainian President made a short stop on his way to the United States, the Irish Examiner reports.
During the meeting, Martin told Zelenskyy that Ireland was open to assisting, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. In addition, the parties discussed work to achieve a sustainable and lasting peaceful settlement of the war, as well as many other issues.
“We made it clear that we would push very strongly for an accelerated timeline in terms of Ukrainian membership of the European Union. He’s very keen on that,” Martin said.
The Irish Prime Minister noted that this is a priority, as it provides certain security guarantees for Ukraine, and in economic terms, it opens up significant opportunities for the country in the future.
Martin also explained the issue of financial support for Ukraine.
“We discussed support by Ireland, financially, to Ukraine. I explained that our commitments under the European Peace Facility have been frustrated by Hungary’s decision to veto the deployment of the European Peace Facility fund, set up by the European Union,” the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, he noted that alternative approaches to providing financial assistance to Ukraine are being considered, and many ideas emerged during the meeting.
“In particular, they have a comprehensive programme of feeding their children in schools, which is limited, and we’ve undertaken to support that initiative, and will work with Ukrainian officials in that regard,” he said.
In addition, Martin emphasized that Zelenskyy is very focused on keeping Europe centrally involved in a potential peace settlement, and said that the Ukrainian President appreciates the support that the United States has provided.
“He values very much the support he has received from the United States, a very strong partner to Ukraine. I think the engagement, the fact that he’s visiting Washington, is good in itself. So, from that perspective, I think he’s looking forward to the meeting,” he summarized.
US President Donald Trump said that he would meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington tomorrow, at 11 a.m. local time. The American leader also said that he respects the Ukrainian President.
