Zelensky to Ireland: ‘Thanks for your support, well, almost’

Addressing the European Council, Volodymyr Zelensky namechecked EU member states – noting in turn what he saw as the level of support the country had given Ukraine.

“Ireland, well, almost,” Mr Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader offered no further reasons for his comment.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin, speaking on the second day of the European Council meeting in Brussels, played down the comments.

He suggested he does believe Ireland was being criticised by the Ukrainian leader.

Ireland, while fully backing the Ukrainian push for EU membership, has not abandoned its position of military neutrality in the face of the Russian assault.

Mr Martin has stressed the country is not politically neutral and has committed millions of euros in non-lethal aid to Ukraine.

Ireland has also taken in more than 10,000 Ukrainian refugees, with thousands more expected to arrive after the Government removed any requirement for visas.

Mr Martin insisted Mr Zelensky “was actually talking in terms of the European perspective”.

He said: “I wouldn’t have taken the same slant as some may be taking from it.

“I can’t surmise in terms of what implication there is except I spoke to him last week and he was very strongly in praise of the Irish contribution, both from a humanitarian perspective, in terms of our clear support for Ukraine’s application to join the EU, and he thanked me personally for my own personal commitment to that.”

He said people should not read too much into the comments.

“We are a militarily-neutral country, but again we facilitated the EU Peace Facility, which has been of enormous support to the Ukrainian people.

“I wouldn’t overstate it, quite frankly.”

Speaking to European leaders, Mr Zelensky said he was grateful for the sanctions imposed so far. But he told them: “These are powerful steps. But it was a little late.”

Mr Zelensky has accepted an invitation to address the Oireachtas on April 6, where he will speak directly to Irish politicians.

Meanwhile, in the besieged city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian authorities said about 300 people died in a Russian airstrike earlier this month on a theatre where hundreds of people were sheltering.