Traffic, travel and potential disruption: Major security operation as Zelensky visits Ireland
His visit to Dublin comes as the Ukrainian leader is under pressure from the US to sign a peace deal
Mr Zelensky and Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska will have a number of engagements on Tuesday during their visit, including a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and a courtesy call on President Catherine Connolly.
He will also attend the inauguration of the Ireland-Ukraine Economic Forum with Tánaiste Simon Harris.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at Dublin Airport ahead of an official visit to Ireland, 01/12/2025.
Photograph: GIS/DFA
Mr Zelensky’s visit to Dublin comes as the Ukrainian leader is under pressure from the US to sign a peace deal.
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Representatives of the US, Russia and Ukraine have held talks in the past week in the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to come to an agreement that would end almost four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
It also comes days after the resignation of Ukraine’s chief negotiator in those talks, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak, whose residence was searched last week by anti-corruption investigators.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at Dublin Airport ahead of an official visit to Ireland, 01/12/2025.
Photograph: GIS/DFA
Mr Zelensky was last in Ireland in February, when his plane stopped off to refuel ahead of a visit to Washington DC.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – Monday, December 1st 2025
Mr Martin met the Ukrainian leader at Shannon Airport in Ireland’s south-west, where he emphasised the Irish people’s support for the Ukrainian people.
The following day, a televised exchange in the Oval Office between Mr Zelensky, US president Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance made international headlines.
In April 2022, Mr Zelensky made a historic address to the Dáil in which he said Ireland had not been neutral to the “disaster” Russia had brought to Ukraine.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at Dublin Airport ahead of an official visit to Ireland, 01/12/2025.
Photograph: GIS/DFA
Welcoming the visit, the Taoiseach said Ukrainian people have “inspired the world in their brave defence of their country and its sovereignty since it was brutally and illegally invaded by Russia”.
“The people of Ukraine continue to endure the nightly onslaught of Russian missiles and drones on their cities,” he added.
“Their defence forces continue to defend their homeland with remarkable tenacity.
“The president’s visit comes at a critical time for Ukraine and Europe, with efforts to bring just and lasting peace to Ukraine ongoing.”
Martin said he looked forward to discussing with President Zelensky “the ways in which Ireland can support these efforts and how we can ensure that Ukraine comes to the negotiating table in as strong a position as possible”.
Zelensky arrived in Dublin Airport on Monday evening after an earlier meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron where he spoke optimistically about revising the Trump administration’s peace plan.
His visit to Paris followed a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in Florida on Sunday, which US secretary of state Marco Rubio described as productive.
The two sides have worked to make revisions to a proposed US-authored plan that was developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow but criticised as too weighted towards Russian demands.
US president Donald Trump has downplayed his administration’s original 28-point peace framework, which would have imposed limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, blocked the country from joining Nato and required Ukraine to give up territory, as a “concept” to be “fine-tuned”.
