President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to invite King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on a state visit to Ukraine as early as this year, Britain's The Guardian has said.
"Today I want to invite him [the king] very much. I don’t know from the point of security. Yes, of course, we want to see him in Ukraine very much. I don’t know how it will be this year, if it’s possible, but of course we want to see him," he said in an interview with the publication.
This would make the monarch the highest-ranking member of the royal family to visit Kyiv since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy noted that he shares a close relationship with the King, whom he has met repeatedly, including when the monarch publicly expressed support after Zelenskyy's high-profile visit to the White House last year.
Zelenskyy noted that Charles continues to support Ukraine, but refused to disclose exactly how. "It’s up to his majesty to answer on such questions," he said.
But he added: " We have a very good relationship, you know. Today, in the morning, when I spoke by phone with my wife, with all respect to Keir [Starmer], but my wife said best regards to his majesty first, of course, and then to the prime minister, of course. So of course, we, and Ukraine, love his majesty."
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne are the only working members of the royal family to have visited Ukraine since 2022.
However, Prince Harry has visited three times, including last September, when he stated he wanted to do "everything possible" to help rehabilitate thousands of military personnel injured during the war.
As reported, on Monday, Charles III received President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Windsor Castle. This is Zelenskyy's fourth audience with Charles III, and the King has repeatedly expressed his support for Ukraine.
