In Sweden, we wholeheartedly support the brave people of Ukraine, its soldiers and veterans.
The comments were made at the Potocki Palace in Lviv, western Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with Zelenskyy. The king said he was deeply impressed by the president, whom he called a "great leader" of a country that is "very important" to Europe.
The King is traveling with Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M). He first met Zelenskyy at a memorial ceremony, laying a wreath at a military cemetery in cloudy Lviv.
Security was tight, and the king was visibly moved during the visit to the cemetery, where he laid a bouquet on a grave he had chosen himself, TT's dispatched photographer Henrik Montgomery says. Zelenskyy writes on X that the Ukrainians are "deeply grateful for the respectful gesture."
Ahead of the conversation with Zelenskyy, the King said that he was looking forward to meeting Ukrainians and listening to their stories during the day.
"Special" support
In a press release about the trip, Malmer Stenergard says that she looks forward to visiting the war-torn country "to discuss the state of the war, the humanitarian situation and the conditions for a just peace."
She adds that the support from Sweden is "special".
"It has broad political support, but also comes from the whole of society and the hearts of the people."
The meeting with Zelenskyy is not the King's first. The King met, among other things, the Ukrainian president when he visited Sweden in 2024 and during the UN's 80th anniversary celebration in New York last autumn. At the UN, the King said that the meeting with Zelenskyy was intended to demonstrate his "tireless support" for the Ukrainian people and their president.
The court's website states that the King and Foreign Minister will "carry out several visits to learn from experiences from the war" on Friday.
Gives hope
King Carl XVI Gustaf, who turns 80 on Walpurgis Eve, has a strong commitment to Ukraine. In his speech at the National Conference of People and Defence in January, he emphasized the serious global situation and the importance of standing up for international law, and in his Christmas speech, he highlighted the courage of the Ukrainians.
"The perseverance and will of the Ukrainian people to defend their country gives us hope that Ukraine's freedom and sovereignty will be respected," he said.
Russia's full-scale offensive war against Ukraine has been going on for over four years.
Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus was born on 30 April 1946 at Haga Palace. He succeeded his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf as king on 15 September 1973.
His parents were the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Prince Gustaf Adolf died in a plane crash in Copenhagen in 1947 and Princess Sibylla died in Stockholm in 1972.
He married Silvia Sommerlath from Heidelberg, then West Germany, in 1976. Together they have three children: Crown Princess Victoria (born 1977), Prince Carl Philip (born 1979) and Princess Madeleine (born 1982).
