Hollywood star Ben Stiller has said ‘seeking safety is a right and it needs to be upheld for every person’ during a visit to Ukraine where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
The actor, 56, arrived in Poland on Saturday and was pictured in the large south-eastern city of Rzeszow, close to the border, speaking to aid workers in a storage facility.
On Monday morning, Stiller, who is a long-term Goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – the UN refugee agency – visited Ukraine on World Refugee Day.
The actor was seen walking among bombed out buildings in the city of Irpin where Russian forces have bombed residential buildings.
In a video posted to his Instagram account, Stiller said: ‘Hey, I’m Ben Stiller, and I’m here in Ukraine. I’m meeting people who’ve been impacted by the war and hearing how it’s changed their lives.
‘War and violence are devastating people all over the world. Nobody chooses to flee their home. Seeking safety is a right, and it needs to be upheld for every person.’
He later met with President Zelensky where the pair discussed the importance of the world remembering the on-going conflict with Russia.
‘Sir, really nice to meet you. Thanks for taking the time. You’re my hero,’ Stiller told Zelensky as he approached him and shook his hand.
The Hollywood star then complimented the President on his ‘great acting career’, to which Zelensky laughed, and replied: ‘Not as great as you’.
Stiller then told him that he was inspired by Zelensky, ‘for what you’ve done in this country and for the world’.
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