Ukraine President Zelenskyy to visit Poland to meet refugees

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit Warsaw on Wednesday for talks with top Polish officials and meet Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

Zelenskyy will meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Later in the day, Zelenskyy and Duda will meet Ukrainian refugees who found safety in Poland at Warsaw's Royal Castle.

Both heads of state will give speeches there.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Poland has taken in over 1.6 million war refugees, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The NATO member has been a close ally of Ukraine and played a big role in galvanizing Western military and political support for Kyiv.

"(The visit) should be taken as a sign of trust and of thanking Poland and Poles," said Marcin Przydacz, Polish presidential foreign policy ahead of Zelenskiy's arrival.

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, April 5:

Germany demands sanctions for buying Russian uranium

Countries which buy uranium from Russia for their nuclear power plants should face sanctions, said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on his way back from a two-day visit to Kyiv.

During his visit, Habeck was asked by Ukrainian officials why the purchase of Russian uranium had not yet been banned by the West.

"And I think there is no good answer to that," said the German minister to reporters.

He added that it only "seems reasonable" that countries which are still equipping their nuclear power plants with Russian uranium, will have to make adjustments.

He also insisted on a more consistent enforcement of the existing sanctions on Moscow for invading Ukraine.

"We have clear data that the existing sanctions are being circumvented via third countries," he said.

Putin welcomes Belarusian President

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is scheduled to visit Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The leader will discuss the progress of their Russia-Belarus "Union State", said a statement from the Kremlin.

The two countries are formally part of a political and economic union andhave been discussing ways to move closer.

On the second day the Belarusian strongman and Putin will speak on "current bilateral and international issues," said the statement.

Putin, over the weekend announced that, on the bilateral agenda is a discussion on the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory near Poland's border.

Other international matters will include the war in Ukraine and a reaction to Finland joining NATO.

ns/es (Dpa, Reuters)