German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi have arrived in Kyiv on a symbolic joint trip to show their support for Ukraine as it struggles to resist Russian advances in the east. of the country.
The three were photographed together overnight on a train from Poland used to transport high-profile guests to Ukraine, but little information was given about the details of the long-awaited trip.
Mario Draghi, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz aboard the train bound for Kyiv. Photo: Ludovic Marin / AP
“It simply came to our notice then. It is a message of unity that we are sending to the Ukrainians, in support, to talk about both the present and the future, because the next few weeks, as we know, will be very difficult, “Macron told reporters at the train station. Kyiv. .
The three leaders were greeted with airstrikes in the Ukrainian capital, while Russia continued to hit targets across the country. Local officials said on Thursday that a Russian rocket attack launched during the night hit a suburb of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, killing four and wounding six.
“We are here, focused and ready to meet with President Zelenskiy now to visit a place of war where massacres have taken place and then to direct the talks that are scheduled with President Zelenskiy,” Macron added. .
Shortly after their arrival, the three leaders were photographed visiting Irpin, a suburban town a few miles from Kyiv that suffered some of the most intense fighting during the first weeks of the Russian invasion.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who also arrived in Kyiv on Thursday by train, is expected to join them for talks with the Ukrainian leader.
The visit comes as complaints grow further in Kyiv over slow arms deliveries, with an official saying this week that Ukraine had only received 10% of the weapons it had ordered from the West.
Scholz has become the main target of complaints, with Ukraine especially unhappy with German military aid. The country’s ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, told German channel NTV that he hoped Scholz would deliver heavy weapons that had long been promised but had not yet been delivered.
The first joint visit by leaders of the EU’s three largest economies comes a week before the EU summit where European leaders are expected to debate Kyiv’s bid to join the 27-nation bloc.
Macron earlier tempered Ukraine’s ambitions to join the EU, saying it could take “decades” for Ukraine to be accepted into the EU.
Mario Draghi (left) and Emmanuel Macron in the photo of Irpin’s visit to Ukraine. Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty Images
In Kyiv, it is also feared that the three leaders will pressure Kyiv to accept a peace deal in favor of Vladimir Putin, as Russia continues to win in the Donbas region and currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
Commenting on Macron’s recent statements that it was vital that the West did not “humiliate” Russian President Oleksiy Arestovych, Zelenskiy’s adviser, told the German newspaper Bild:
“They will say we have to end the war that is causing food and economic problems.”
At the same time, European unity has been challenged by the far-reaching consequences of the invasion of Russia, including rising cost of living and the spiral of energy prices across the continent.
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A survey this week of nine EU member states plus the UK found that support for Ukraine remained high, but that concerns had shifted to the wider economic impacts of the conflict, further raising fears in Kyiv that Western support for the country fades as Russia continues to move forward. in the east of the country.
Speaking to reporters at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia on Thursday, Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, said he hoped the so-called “special military operation” would end by the end of the year. year, as both sides were preparing for a prolonged war of attrition with no short-term end in sight.