Updates from the 120th day of the invasion
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The EU begins the two-day summit, accepts Ukraine as a candidate to become a member.
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Competitive claims about the degree of control of Severodonetsk in the Donbas.
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Ukrainian President Zelensky on Wednesday delivered his message to Canadian students.
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Germany begins a new stage in the energy plan, warns that rationing in winter is possible.
The European Union has agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for the EU, launching a potentially years-long process that could move the assailed country away from Russian influence and unite it more closely with the West.
Ukraine applied for EU membership less than a week after Moscow invaded on February 24th.
The decision of the leaders of the bloc of 27 nations to grant candidate status to Ukraine on Thursday was unusually quick for the EU. But the war and Ukraine’s request for a speedy consideration gave urgency to his cause.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed the measure, calling it a “unique and historic moment” in relations with the EU.
“Ukraine’s future is in the EU,” he tweeted.
The EU also granted candidate status to Moldova, which borders Ukraine.
It can take years or even decades to acquire. Countries must meet a detailed set of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles.
Ukraine will have to curb government corruption and adopt other reforms.
LOOK at Zelensky explains to Canadian high school students the dangers of “Ukrainian fatigue”:
Zelensky urges Canadian college students not to forget about Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky virtually addressed college students across Canada to bolster support and help prevent what some have called Ukrainian fatigue.
‘Fearful climax’ in the Donbas: Ukrainian official
Moscow’s massive air and artillery attacks are aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region, Zelensky said in a video address Thursday.
The war of attrition in the Donbas, the industrial center of Ukraine, is most critical of the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which straddle the Siverskyi Donets River in Luhansk Province.
The battle there “is entering a kind of fearsome climax,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, Zelensky’s adviser.
Ukrainian forces were defending Severodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday, but Russian forces had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka in the south.
Hundreds of civilians are trapped in a chemical plant in Severodonetsk while Ukraine and Russia quarrel over who controls the bombed city.
Moscow says Ukrainian forces in the city are surrounded and trapped. But Gaidai said Wednesday on Ukrainian television that Russian forces did not have full control of Severodonetsk, but admitted that troops there may have to withdraw to new positions.
WATCH CBC News on the ground in Kharkiv, where the mayor says 150,000 people have been displaced:
Kharkiv divided between the return to normalcy and persistent fear
Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, is showing signs of life, but there are still fears of Russian attacks.
The TASS news agency quoted separatists backed by Russia as saying that Lysychansk was now surrounded and cut off from supply after a road was taken connecting the city with the city of Sieviersk.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
“Risk of total gas disruption”: EU official
In addition to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are also looking to join the EU in what would be their most ambitious expansion since hosting the post-Cold War Eastern European states.
LOOK l The EU reduced Russian oil imports, with a few exceptions, earlier this month:
The EU announces a partial ban on Russian oil imports
European Union leaders have agreed to reduce most Russian oil imports over the next six months after reaching a compromise with Hungary.
Diplomats say Ukraine will need a decade or more to meet the criteria to enter the EU. But EU leaders say the bloc must make a gesture recognizing Ukraine’s sacrifice.
EU and Western leaders are also very concerned about the global supply of energy and food in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from 24 February.
“The risk of a total gas outage is now more real than ever,” EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday.
Russia can completely cut off gas in Europe to bolster its political influence, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday in its own statements, adding that leaders there had to prepare now. .
Several European countries have outlined measures to resist a supply constraint and prevent energy shortages in winter and a spike in inflation that could test the continent’s determination to maintain sanctions on Russia.
Germany on Thursday activated the “alarm stage” of its gas emergency plan in response to the fall in Russian supply, but did not allow utility companies to pass on rising energy costs to customers in the economy largest in Europe.
The measure is the latest escalation of a Europe-Moscow clash since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exposed the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas supply and sparked a frantic search for alternative energy sources.
Possible energy rationing in Germany
The decision, announced by the Minister of Economy, marks a strong change especially for Germany, which has cultivated strong energy ties with Moscow.
“The cut in gas supply is an economic attack on us by Putin,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement, adding that Germans should reduce consumption. Gas rationing is expected to be avoided, but it cannot be ruled out, Habeck said.
“Summer is here, a summer after a long period of pandemic and people want to enjoy a while outside and maybe without political misery for once. But winter will come,” he added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the left, speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of Thursday’s two-day EU summit in Brussels. Germany has begun a new stage in its gas supply plan due to a restriction on Russian supply. (Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty Images)
Russia has denied that reductions in gas supplies were premeditated, and state-owned supplier Gazprom has blamed a delay in returning service equipment caused by Western sanctions.
The second “alarm stage” of the three-stage emergency plan is activated when the German government sees a high risk of long-term supply shortages. Theoretically it allows utility companies to pass on high prices to industry and households and thus help reduce demand.
In the second stage, the market can still function without the need for state intervention that would begin in the final emergency stage.
Supply cuts have also prompted German companies to consider resorting to polluting forms of energy, such as coal, previously considered unthinkable because of promises made at world climate summits.