WARSAW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife were welcomed with military honors in Poland Wednesday at the start of a state visit that is meant as a gesture of thanks to the neighboring nation for its crucial support in Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.
The visit is a rare foray for Zelenskyy out of Ukraine since Russia unleased the war in February 2022. While it follows visits to the United States, Britain, France and Belgium, it stands out from the others because it was announced in advance without the secrecy of past visits.
It is also unusual that the president is joined by the first lady, Olena Zelenska. Marcin Przydacz, the head of Polish President Andrzej Duda's foreign policy office, described it as Zelenskyy's first visit of this kind since the war began.
The visit shines a light on Poland's rising international role in a new security order that is emerging after Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, is modernizing its military with orders of tanks and other equipment from U.S. and South Korean producers, while the United States has also beefed up its military presence in Poland.
Warsaw has been a key ally for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion last year, also becoming a hub for humanitarian aid and weapons to transit into Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has traveled through Poland on his other trips, but until now had not made Poland the focus of one his trips.
Zelenskyy is to meet with Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, attend an economic forum focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine and meet some of the Ukrainians who have found refuge in Poland. Poland has been a key destination for Ukrainian refugees, particularly those who want to remain close because they plan to return or want to be able to visit loved ones.
More than 1.5 million Ukrainians have registered with the Polish government since the war began, joining large numbers of Ukrainians who had already arrived in recent years for work. The exact number of Ukrainians present in the country at any given moment is impossible to measure, especially with many going back and forth.
But Zelenskyy's visit also comes at a delicate time, with Polish farmers growing increasingly angry because Ukrainian grain that has entered Poland has created a glut, causing prices to fall.
The grain is only meant to be stored and transit through Poland to reach international markets in North Africa and the Middle East. But farmers in Poland say the grain is instead staying in Poland, taking up space in silos and entering local markets, causing local prices to fall for the farmers. Romanian and Bulgarian farmers say they are facing the same problem.
Przydacz acknowledged in comments to reporters that the issue has caused tensions and said that would be a topic of the talks on Wednesday.
The anger of the farmers is emerging as a headache for Morawiecki's government ahead of general elections in the fall, particularly since his conservative ruling party, Law and Justice, gets much of its support in rural areas.
An hour before Duda was to welcome Zelenskyy, Poland's agriculture minister, Henryk Kowalczyk, who has been the focus of the farmers' anger, resigned from his post.