Prince William made a surprise trip to visit troops at the Ukraine border

The Prince of Wales meets members of the British Armed forces in Rzeszow, Poland. Ian Vogler - Pool/Getty Images

• Prince William made a surprise trip to visit British troops in Poland near the Ukrainian border.
• He thanked the troops for "keeping everyone safe out here and keeping an eye on what's going on."
• This is his first trip to Poland since 2017, when he visited with his wife, the Princess of Wales.

The Prince of Wales visited British troops stationed at a military base in Poland near the Ukrainian border to thank them for their service and for supporting the Ukrainian war effort. 

The visit to the base in the south-eastern Polish city of Rzeszow on Wednesday was kept under wraps until the Prince returned to Warsaw, per Reuters. Rzeszow is an hour's drive from the Ukrainian border. 

British troops have been stationed in the city to provide support to Ukraine, per the BBC.

Prince William met Polish defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the military base, spoke with Polish and British soldiers, and checked out military equipment while on his visit, per CNN. 

"I just wanted to come here in person to say thank you for all that you're doing, keeping everyone safe out here and keeping an eye on what's going on," he told the soldiers, per a video by The Royal Family Channel.

He added: "You're doing a really important job out here and defending our freedoms is really important, and everyone back home thoroughly supports you."

He later returned to Warsaw, where he visited a center housing 300 Ukrainian women and children displaced by the war, per The Guardian. 

Prince William plays a game of table tennis as he visits an accommodation centre, for Ukrainians who fled the war, in Warsaw, Poland on March 22. AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

This is the royal's first visit to Poland since he visited the country in 2017 with his wife, the Princess of Wales, per the BBC.

Poland has stood resolutely with Ukraine since the start of the war and was the first NATO ally that pledged to send fighter jets to its neighbor. 

Representatives for the Prince of Wales did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.