Leaders from France, Germany, Italy and Romania arrived in Kyiv on Thursday in a show of collective European support for the Ukrainian people as they resist the Russian invasion.
The French president’s office said Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, representing Europe’s three largest economies, had traveled together to Kyiv on a special night train provided by the Ukrainian authorities.
French President Emmanuel Macron in the center, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the right, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi are traveling on a train bound for Kyiv. (AP) Leaders arrived in Kyiv on Thursday in a show of collective European support for the Ukrainian people. (AP)
President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, which borders Ukraine and has been a destination for many Ukrainian refugees, arrived on a separate train and tweeted on arrival: “This illegal Russian aggression must stop! “
After getting off the train in Kyiv, Macron said he and the other leaders would visit the sites where the attacks took place.
“It is a message of European unity for the Ukrainian people, of support now and in the future, because the coming weeks will be very difficult,” Macron said.
The visit comes as Russian forces press their offensive in the eastern Donbas region, slowly but steadily gaining ground over Ukrainian forces, poorly equipped and armed, desperately demanding more weapons from Western allies.
Several sirens of the airstrikes sounded as European leaders were at their hotel preparing for the rest of their visit, and Kyiv authorities urged people to seek refuge.
These alerts are frequent.
As he left the hotel, Macron, putting his hand to his heart, said in English, “I want to show my admiration for the Ukrainian people.”
French President Emmanuel Macron looks up as he travels aboard a train bound for Kyiv. (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron in the center is escorted when he arrives at the Kyiv train station. (AP) The German news agency DPA quoted Scholz as saying that leaders are trying to show solidarity, but also their commitment to maintaining their financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and its supply of weapons.
Scholz added that this support will continue “for as long as is necessary for Ukraine’s struggle for independence.”
Scholz said sanctions against Russia were also significant and could cause Moscow to withdraw its troops, according to dpa.
Children receive classes in explosives in Ukraine
The visit has great symbolic weight as the three powers in Western Europe have often faced criticism for failing to provide Ukraine with the scale of weapons requested by Zelenskiy and for his willingness to continue talking to the Russian president. Vladimir Putin.
Many leaders and regulars of the Baltic and Central European nations, who were controlled by Moscow during the Cold War, believe that Putin only understands the force and have considered unacceptable the efforts of Macron and others to continue talking to Putin after his invasion. .
There was high hope among Ukrainians that the visit could mark a turning point, paving the way for major new arms supplies.
The visit comes as EU leaders prepare to make a decision on June 23-24 on Ukraine’s bid to become an EU candidate, and ahead of a major NATO summit from June 29 to 30 in Madrid.
Also on Thursday, NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels to consider further military aid to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the U.S. and Germany announced more aid, as the United States and its allies provide long-range weapons that they say can make a difference in a fight in which Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outnumbered by their Russian invaders. .
On Tuesday, during a trip to the neighbors of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova, Macron said that a “message of support” should be sent to Ukraine before EU heads of state and government “should take important decisions “at its meeting in Brussels.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is escorted when he arrives at Kyiv train station. (AP)
“We are at a time when we need to send clear political signals – we Europeans, we the European Union – to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Macron is deeply involved in diplomatic efforts to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would allow for future peace talks.
He has frequent talks with Zelenskyy and has spoken on the phone several times with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Putin launched the invasion in late February.
Scholz had long been reluctant to travel to Kyiv, saying he did not want to “join the queue of people making a quick entry for a photo opportunity.”
Instead, Scholz said a trip should focus on doing “concrete things.”
Germany announced on Wednesday that it would provide Ukraine with three rocket launch systems of the kind Kyiv has said it urgently needs to defend itself from the Russian invasion.
Police are inspecting a crater caused by a Russian rocket attack in Pokrovsk, Ukraine. (AP)
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Germany would transfer three M270 medium-range artillery rocket systems along with ammunition to Ukraine.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Lambrecht said that the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany with advanced shells, the delivery of which had already been announced by Berlin, would soon end.
He said the multi-launch rocket systems can be delivered in late July or early August after training on this equipment.
Lambrecht said Germany expects the systems to have “a rapid and significant impact on the battlefield.”