*CEO of the Shannon Airport Group, Mary Considine, Taoiseach Simon Harris (FG) and Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, Volodymyr Zelensky touched down in Shannon Airport where he was embraced by the Taoiseach and addressed the blunder from US President Joe Biden for the first time.
President Zelensky held a bi-lateral meeting with Taoiseach, Simon Harris (FG) at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning, the first such meeting on Irish soil which focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As he touched down in Co Clare, Zelensky was hugged by the Taoiseach before he shook hands with CEO of the Shannon Airport Group, Mary Considine and the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko.
Zelensky emerged from the aircraft he travelled from New York on at 12:15pm and held a near half-hour meeting with the Taoiseach. He signed the visitors book at Shannon Airport before posing for photographs.
In brief remarks before the meeting, President Zelensky paid tribute to the Irish people for their support in welcoming the people of Ukraine who have taken refuge in Ireland since the Russian invasion on 24th February 2022.
More than 108,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland and received temporary protection orders since the war began. This represents 2.4 per cent of the total 5.5 million Ukrainian refugees who have applied for temporary protection across Europe.
To date, Ireland has provided €250 million in non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility, while the Irish Defence Forces have trained 455 Ukrainian personnel in demining, battlefield casualty care and the use of non lethal mine clearance equipment.
Speaking in Shannon Airport, Zelensky said, “Thank you so much for your support, thanks to Ireland for hosting a lot of Ukrainian refugees, you were with us from the very beginning of the Russian invasion”.
On Thursday night, US President Joe Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘President Putin’ while speaking to reporters about Nato’s support for Ukraine. He later corrected himself, before Zelensky took the microphone. “President Putin?” Biden said, correcting himself. “President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin”.
Giving his views on the blunder for the first time, Zelensky said in Shannon, “It’s a mistake. I think United States gave a lot of support for Ukrainians. We can forget some mistakes, I think so”.
Taoiseach Harris confirmed following the meeting that he is to visit Ukraine later this year.
Following the meeting, Zelensky in a statement outlined, “We discussed support for Ukraine and continued cooperation in demining and cybersecurity. We also talked about the next steps to implement the decisions based on the outcomes of the Peace Summit and discussed the efforts needed to increase global attention to the issue of children illegally deported by Russia. 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”.
