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Leaders return safely to EU after visit to Kyiv amid attacks

Mar 16, 2022 | 4:05 AM

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have returned safely back to Poland on Wednesday after a visit to Kyiv meant to show support for Ukraine as it faces heavy bombardment.

The leaders met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday to send the message that Ukraine isn’t alone and that they support the nation’s aspirations to one day join the European Union.

They went ahead with the hours-long train trip despite worries within the EU about the security risks of traveling within a war zone.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Wednesday morning that they had returned safely to Poland.

Officials hadn’t given details about their schedule for security reasons.

The long journey overland by train to Kyiv and back was undertaken by Prime Ministers Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland, Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic and Janez Jansa of Slovenia. They were joined by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is a deputy prime minister and conservative ruling party leader and in Poland’s unusual political arrangement the country’s most powerful leader.

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Follow all AP stories on Russia’s war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

Vanessa Gera , The Associated Press