President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the introduction of a special bill in the Verkhovna Rada, which will expand the rights of Polish citizens in Ukraine and give them a special status. This became known during the speech of Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Ukrainian Parliament today, May 22.

Details of the bill are still unknown, but Volodymyr Zelensky said the new law would be a "mirror" of the Polish one, giving Ukrainian refugees almost equal rights along with Polish citizens. Both presidents also announced their intention to sign a bilateral agreement that will facilitate the crossing of the Polish-Ukrainian border. 

"We are relatives. And there are no borders or barriers between us. The Ukrainian and Polish peoples have not been mentally separated by borders for a long time. So, we agreed to implement this in the near future in a bilateral agreement. First on joint border and customs control, and then on the single conditional border once Ukraine becomes an EU member.

And I am confident that all necessary decisions will be made first for Ukraine's candidate status and then for full membership. In particular, thanks to Poland's many years of protection of Ukrainian interests on the European continent. " , - Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared. The President also thanked the Polish cities for their help and awarded the title of "Rescue City" to Rzeszów, Poland.

For his part, Andrzej Duda said: "A historic moment is reshaping our relations… Now is the time for a new Polish-Ukrainian neighborhood agreement - which takes into account everything we have built in our relations in recent months. The current war has also shown that between us there is no good road network. It's time to make up for this delay, the Polish-Ukrainian border must unite, not divide, that must be our great goal." In this context, the Polish President also called for high-speed rail connections between Kyiv and Warsaw.