Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have held talks at Shannon Airport.
The Ukrainian leader is on his way to Washington to meet with President Trump tomorrow, Friday.
The reception Zelenskiy will receive in the White House is uncertain. The reception that he was given in Shannon was warm and friendly.
Mr. Martin said at the meeting that Ireland will “push very strongly” for Ukraine’s early entry into the European Union.
Mr. Martin, according to an Irish Times report, also described U.S. president Donald Trump’s objective of ending the war in Ukraine as “noble” as he voiced Ireland’s backing for a “sustainable and durable” peace settlement in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Martin said: “We made it clear that we would push very strongly for an accelerated timeline in terms of Ukrainian membership of the European Union.
“It’s a priority because, in itself, it gives certain security guarantees to Ukraine, but economically also it opens up very significant opportunities for Ukraine into the future.”
The Taoiseach said peace processes after wars “by definition ... are done in phases, and they take time. But president Trump is a president who has said peace is his objective. He wants to end these terrible wars and I think that’s a very noble objective in itself."
Mr. Martin added: “I think president Zelensky was appreciative again of the fact that Europe is now very clearly saying that it will be taking on more of the responsibility for security guarantees to Ukraine into the future, and for deterrence into the future, which he appreciates.
“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.
“We are looking at alternative approaches to give financial aid to Ukraine and a number of ideas came up 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."
