Zelensky to meet President Connolly and address Dáil during Dublin visit

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

Volodymyr Zelensky is to be greeted by Ireland’s new president in Dublin on Tuesday as US efforts continue to broker a ceasefire in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The visit comes a day after he met French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris as part of discussions on ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he looked forward to “reiterating Ireland’s unswerving commitment to standing with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes” as part of the visit on Tuesday.

Mr Martin greeted Mr Zelensky on the tarmac after his plane landed in Dublin late on Monday night.

The two leaders are to hold a bilateral meeting as part of events on Tuesday, which will mark the first state visit by a Ukrainian president to Ireland.

Mr Zelensky and Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, are due to first make a courtesy call to President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park on Tuesday morning.

Mr Zelensky is also due to attend the inauguration of the Ireland-Ukraine Economic Forum with Tánaiste Simon Harris.

The Ukrainian leader will also give an address to the Dáil at Leinster House on Tuesday afternoon after being introduced by the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy.

In April 2022, Mr Zelensky made a historic address to the Dáil via videolink, in which he said Ireland had not been neutral to the “disaster” Russia had brought to Ukraine.

Welcoming the visit, Mr Martin said Zelensky’s arrival in Dublin comes at a “critical time” for Ukraine.

Ukrainian and US officials have worked to revise the proposed US-authored plan, developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow, but criticised as being too weighted towards Russian demands.

Mr Zelensky said in Paris on Monday that the peace plan “looks better” but that the topic of Ukraine’s control over its territories was “the most complicated” topic being discussed.