Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Royal Family

CHARLES’ UKRAINE WISH: King Charles wants to visit Ukraine again before he gets ‘too old’

KING Charles is determined to visit Ukraine again before he “gets too old” to see the war-ravaged nation.

The 74-year-old monarch – who visited Ukraine in 1996 and welcomed its president Volodymyr Zelensky to Buckingham Palace in early February – shared his desire to go back during a visit on Thursday to open the new headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Canary Wharf, London.

Speaking one day ahead of the 13-month anniversary of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion on the nation, Charles said: “I must go again before I get too old. I would like the chance to see Ukraine again.

Established in 1991 at the end of the Cold War to build open market economies in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the EBRD’s new offices are in a 26-storey skyscraper that is one of the most environmentally advanced buildings in Britain as it is completely run on green energy.

It has an office in Kyiv but the bank was forced to evacuate their staff to Warsaw in Poland following the outbreak of war on February 24, 2022, which has caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and instigated Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. 

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Jurgen Rigterink, first vice president of the bank, told Charles it was the leading international financial institution responding to both the Ukraine invasion and recent deadly earthquake tragedy in Turkey.

Charles was also introduced to a charitable project being run by staff called ‘Kids and Art for Ukraine’ on his visit to the new offices.

He was handed a landscape picture painted by Sofia Franchuk, 16, from the town of Tarashcha, around 120 kilometres from Kyiv, who has kept going to art school and painting the invasion.

Charles asked to be given her address so he keep in touch with her by letter.

Co-founder of the ‘Kids and Art for Ukraine’ project Olga Evans told Mail Online about the royal visit: “It was such an honour. The king seemed so pleased. 

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“He said he wanted to visit Ukraine before he got too old. We hope there will be peace soon so that he can. He wants to come to our country.”

MUST SEE!..

Latest

KING Charles is reportedly hoping to make a return to public life by attending the Trooping of the Colour this summer. The 75-year-old monarch...

Royal Family

PRINCE William says his mum taught him “everyone has the potential to give something back”. The 41-year-old – whose mother Princess Diana, died aged...

Entertainment

WHOOPI Goldberg has defended Catherine, Princess of Wales over her edited Mother’s Day photo. The 42-year-old royal – who has been married to Prince...

Royal Family

KING Charles has been “deeply touched” by the support he has received since his cancer diagnosis. The 75-year-old monarch was diagnosed with an undisclosed...

Entertainment

THE WAIT is over as ITV1 launches the hotly-anticipated star-studded new series of Celebrity Big Brother that bursts back on to screens Monday 4th...

Royal Family

QUEEN Camilla is launching a podcast.  The 76-year-old royal launched her online book club, The Reading Room, in January 2021 and she’s expanding on...