Politics

Taoiseach Simon Harris travels to Kyiv for meeting with Zelenskiy

Ireland to commit to provide further €36m in funding to organisations working in Ukraine

Taoiseach Simon Harris and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Shannon Airport, Co Clare, in July. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA
Taoiseach Simon Harris and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Shannon Airport, Co Clare, in July. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA
Jack Power
Wed Sept 04 2024 - 06:00

Taoiseach Simon Harris has travelled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, where he is to pledge €36 million in funding to support humanitarian organisations working in Ukraine.

Russian bombing of Ukraine has intensified in recent days, with more than 40 people killed and 180 wounded in strikes on a military institute in the central town of Poltava. Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities have also been subject to heavy bombardments, as Russia seeks to ramp up pressure during what is becoming a crucial juncture in the 2½-year conflict.

During the trip Mr Harris is to announce that the Government will provide a further €36 million in aid funding to organisations working in Ukraine, as well as signing an agreement pledging ongoing support to the country over the coming years. A memo detailing the plans was approved by Cabinet during a meeting on Tuesday, in advance of Mr Harris travelling to Kyiv.

Officials on Monday said that any assistance given to Ukraine would be of a non-lethal character and would not contravene the State’s neutrality.

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Mr Harris is to meet Mr Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital, where he will formally sign the agreement setting out Ireland’s future commitments to support the eastern European country. The Fine Gael leader is also expected to discuss Ukraine’s progress towards membership of the European Union during their meeting.

The two leaders previously met in July this year in Shannon Airport, as Mr Zelenskiy was flying through Ireland on his way back from Washington. Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin have both visited the Ukrainian capital as taoisigh since the outbreak of the war.

Mr Harris is also scheduled to meet Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian prime minister, as well as visiting areas heavily bombed by Russia since the invasion.

Ukraine has increasingly pleaded for western allies to do more as the war rages on, more than two years after Russia invaded in February 2022. Mr Zelenskiy has appealed for more air defence systems to help Ukraine shoot down Russian missiles, and permission to strike military targets deep in Russia, such as airfields used to launch bombing raids.

Last month Ukrainian forces broke through into Russian territory in a surprise advance in Kursk, which Russia has since been trying to repel. At the same time Russia has been making steady advances in eastern Ukraine, as part of a push to take control of Pokrovsk, a logistical hub seen as a strategic city in the conflict in the Donbas region.

In a statement at the start of the trip, Mr Harris said Russian missile attacks on Poltava this week were a “grim and horrific reminder” of the threat Ukraine was facing every day.

He said he was pleased to be in Ukraine to hear “first hand” from Mr Zelenskiy what the situation was like on the ground. The agreement on Ireland’s future support made it clear it would “stand with the brave people of Ukraine for as long as it takes”, he said.

Jack Power

Jack Power

Jack Power is acting Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times