President Javier Milei was honored this Saturday by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky with the “Order of Liberty”a medal that was created in 2008 and that Angela Merkel, Joe Biden and Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, among other leaders, had already received.
“You are the face of freedom“Zelenski told Milei before giving him the recognition during the bilateral meeting they had in Switzerland, where the Argentine president traveled to participate in the Peace Summit in Ukraine.
Milei, who on Friday participated in the G7 summit held in Apulia, southern Italy, ratified in the meeting with Zelensky Argentine support for Ukraine and condemnation of the Russian invasion.
“Thank you very much, President Zelensky. You are an inspiration throughout the world. Thank you very much for this award. For me it is an honor and I hope to live up to the situation. Thank you very much,” Milei told him in English upon receiving the medal. .
Seconds before, when justifying the delivery of the distinction that It was planned in 2005 and was then established in 2008.Zelensky asked to delay the start of the exchange to, with the medal, thank Milei for Argentine support for Ukraine.
“We are very grateful and I want to bring this up from the beginning, if I may.. I would like to present you with the highest Order of our nation. In the name of Liberty, the Order of Liberty. And that is why, because you are the face of Freedom. So, if you allow me, I’m going to give you…” said the Ukrainian, who got up from his chair, looked for the plaque on which the medal was presented and joined Milei, standing at the head of the long table. Then, he gave the floor to an announcer.
“In the name of the President of Ukraine for his personal contributions in strengthening relations between the states of Argentina and Ukraine and in defending the integrity of the sovereignty of the territory of Ukrainethe Order of Freedom is presented to Javier Gerardo Milei, President of the Argentine Republic,” the announcer read, while Zelenski presented the medal.
The medal that the Ukrainian Government has been awarding since 2008 has already been received by Lula da Silva in 2009, Joe Biden in 2017, Angela Merkel in 2021 and Boris Johnson in 2022.
Moments after the bilateral meeting, Zelensky said in a brief post that with Milei they discussed “the next steps in the implementation of the specific points of the Peace Formula” in Ukraine and thanked Argentina “for recently joining the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children”.
In the meeting with the president and other Ukrainian officials, Milei was accompanied by his sister Karina, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and the Minister of Defense, Luis Petri.
The filmmaker was also part of the entourage. Santiago Oriawho portrayed each step of the President on the tour that included his presence at the G7 and the peace summit that took place in Switzerland.
After the meeting, Milei headed back to Buenos Aires, which will include a technical stop in Gran Canaria, just like on the outward trip.
The president will arrive in the country this Sunday morning. He will stay for just four days in Olivos before traveling to Europe again on Thursday night, to receive the next day an award from the Juan de Mariana Institute, a liberal think tank.
On Saturday Milei will receive the Hayek medal in Hamburg from the liberal association of the same name, and the next day he will have a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, as confirmed by that government’s spokesperson.
