President Zelensky congratulates Tinubu, invites him to visit Ukraine

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has congratulated Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his election victory, and invited him to visit the war-torn country.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to Vanguard by the Office of the President-elect and signed by Tunde Rahman.

Zelenskyy, in a congratulatory letter he personally signed, expressed delight at the peaceful conduct of Nigeria’s general elections and particularly praised the victory of Tinubu as the next President of Nigeria, adding that his country is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria.

Zelenskyy used the opportunity of the goodwill message to extend his invitation to the President-elect to visit Ukraine on a State Visit as soon as he settles down in office after the inauguration on May 29, 2023.

The Ukrainian leader wrote:

“Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

“Despite extremely difficult testing times, caused by the full-scale armed aggression of Russia against our State, Ukraine is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations.

“We are grateful for your country’s support of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization “Principles of the UN

Charter underlying a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.

“I count on the active participation of Nigeria in its practical implementation.

We see the further provision of global food security, of which Ukraine was and remains a reliable guarantor at the global level, as an important direction of cooperation. The fulfilment of this task will be facilitated by the successful implementation of the Ukrainian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, which is designed to significantly increase the supply of grain to African countries in order to prevent famine.

“Taking this opportunity, I invite you to pay an official visit to Ukraine at a time convenient for you. I am confident that your visit will strengthen the dialogue between our countries and contribute to the further consolidation of joint efforts of the international community aimed at solving the urgent challenges of today, in particular the crisis situation caused by Russia regarding the guarantee of world food security.”