Zelensky briefly visits Ireland, Irish PM vows trip to Kyiv 'in coming weeks'

Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris said he will visit Kyiv "in the coming weeks," after welcoming President Volodymyr Zelensky to his country in a brief stopover meeting on July 13.

Zelensky is traveling back to Ukraine from the NATO Summit in Washington and flew via Shannon Airport where the two leaders met.

Speaking during a press conference, Harris said hey had had a "very good meeting," and had discussed a potential bilateral agreement on demining, energy, humanitarian assistance and food security.

"I thank Ireland for supporting the Peace Summit in Switzerland and the Taoiseach for his strong personal attention and commitment to the efforts to bring the children home," Zelensky said in a post on social media following the meeting.

Ireland has a policy of neutrality, is not a member of NATO, and has one of the lowest rates of defense spending across the EU, at around 0.2% of its GDP.

Its government has remained committed to not providing lethal military aid to Ukraine.

But the country has taken in a significant number of Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the full-scale war, estimated to be just shy of 100,000, around 73,000 of whom were living in state-provided housing at the end of 2023.

The cost of such a program is thought to be around 1.5 billion euros a year ($1.6 billion). Ireland has since implemented sharp cuts in the benefits offered to Ukrainian refugees.

Zelensky is expected to visit the U.K. on July 18, taking part in the Fourth European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.

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The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima