Ukrainian official predicts Kyiv airport soon to reopen

(Reuters) - Ukraine has become progressively stronger over the past year and will soon be able to reopen Kyiv's international airport, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Friday.

Andriy Yermak made the pledge while addressing diplomats at Boryspil International Airport outside the capital.

"This return to the elements of peace is possible because Ukraine has grown stronger," Yermak told the diplomats in remarks posted on Zelenskiy's website.

"We are now capable of providing security for this site. Thanks to our defence forces and our friends, your countries. I am certain that the symbolic boarding cards that you were given when you came in today will soon turn into real ones."

Yermak's deputy, Andriy Sybiga, told the gathering that the airport was the first major site to be closed in Ukraine as Russian troops poured over the border on Feb. 24, 2022 and would be the first to be reopened once conditions permitted.

Yermak had invited the diplomats to discuss elements of Zelenskiy's 10-point peace plan, which calls for a withdrawal of Russian troops, recognition of Ukraine's 1991 borders and the establishment of a tribunal to examine war crimes.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler)