"I am ready to be there": Zelenskyy initiates meeting of Ukrainian, Polish leaders on border

Espreso.TV reports with reference to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Telegram channel.

"Ukraine cannot accept what is happening on the border between our countries. And even more so with the fact that outright pro-Putin slogans have begun to appear there. This is wrong. And anti-solidarity. And in particular, in yesterday's case with our grain, which was thrown out of the carriage, it was also simply unfair," the president said in a statement.

Zelenskyy instructed the Ukrainian government to be at the border by February 24. The President of Ukraine asked Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to come to the border as well. Zelenskyy also called on Andrzej Duda to engage in dialogue.

"This is national security. We must not delay this. The coming days give us a chance to do this. I am ready to be at the border together with our government. And I want to appeal now to the European Commission: we need to preserve unity in Europe. This is a fundamental interest of the European Union. That is why Ukraine is appealing to the European Commission to have a representative of the European Commission take part in this meeting," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The President stressed that Ukraine could not accept what was happening at the border.

"And even more so with the fact that outright pro-Putin slogans have begun to appear there. Enough of Moscow on our lands. Enough of misunderstandings. We cannot humiliate each other, we cannot humiliate either Ukrainian or Polish farmers. We need unity. We need solutions - between us, Ukraine and Poland, and at the level of the whole Europe," the statement reads.

• On the afternoon of 20 February, Polish farmers on the border with Ukraine blocked the railway and poured grain out of a freight car. Later it turned out that it was heading to Germany.
• On the evening of 20 February, Polish protesters eased traffic restrictions near the border with Ukraine at two checkpoints, including the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska crossing point, allowing cars to pass through.