Ukraine hopes that negotiations will start this year. However, the 27 EU states have agreed that promises of reform must first be kept. Among other things, this involves the selection process for constitutional judges and the fight against corruption – especially at a high level.
Numerous raids in Ukraine in recent days indicate that the Ukrainian government has understood the EU’s message. The EU is also demanding that standards in the fight against money laundering be observed and that a law against the excessive influence of oligarchs be implemented. The EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv is being organized under strict security precautions.
Large delegation from Brussels
In addition to von der Leyen and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, 15 EU commissioners are also in Kyiv, including Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vera Jourova and Margaritis Schinas. Vice-President Frans Timmermans, among others, stayed in Brussels for emergencies.
Further support promised
Von der Leyen had already pledged further extensive support in the fight against Russia at the start of a two-day visit to Kyiv on Thursday. “Our presence in Kyiv today is a very clear signal: the entire European Union is on Ukraine’s side in the long term,” said the German politician, speaking alongside Head of State Zelensky. Ukraine has become the center of Europe. “To the place where our values are upheld, where our freedom is defended and where the future of Europe is written.”
She announced further financial, military and humanitarian aid. A further 450 million euros are to be made available this year, for example to support the rapid reconstruction of infrastructure and reform projects. In addition, the EU will provide a further 2,400 power generators, for a total of more than 5,000. By the anniversary of the start of the war on February 24, a new package of sanctions against Russia is to be adopted – the tenth.
EU-Ukraine Summit in Kyiv
A high-level meeting between EU representatives and the heads of the Ukrainian government will take place in Kyiv on Friday. A kind of summit at which it will be about further aid and also about the chances of Ukraine joining the EU.
Billions needed for reconstruction
Ukraine is demanding concrete funds from the EU for the ongoing reconstruction of the infrastructure destroyed by Russia’s war. “This year the requirement is 17 billion US dollars (around 15.6 billion euros, note)”, said Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal at a meeting with Commission Vice President Dombrovskis.
Above all, the Russian funds frozen in the course of the sanctions against Moscow should be used for this. At the same time, Schmyhal thanked the EU for financial commitments of 18 billion euros, three billion of which had already arrived in Ukraine. “It is important that these funds are predictable and arrive regularly,” said the 47-year-old.
Training for Ukrainian soldiers
The EU foreign policy chief Borrell also officially announced the expansion of the European training mission for Ukrainian armed forces. This is to train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, bringing the total to 30,000. According to Borrell, the EU mission will also train the crew of main battle tanks. This should ensure that the Ukrainians can effectively use the Leopard 2 tanks that countries like Germany want to provide. In addition, the EU wants to provide 25 million euros for mine clearance in recaptured areas. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖV) can also imagine the army participating in mine clearance.
Zelenskyj: Defending European values
Zelenskyj, meanwhile, campaigned for further support to win the war against Russia. “Now it’s obvious that the dream of a peaceful Europe can only be realized together with Ukraine and only by defeating Russia,” said the 45-year-old. “Ukraine is defending the values on the battlefield that made Europe united and are uniting.”
However, accession to the EU is by no means a sure-fire success – even though Prime Minister Schmyhal has recently said several times that Ukraine could do it in the next two years. In fact, after Ukraine became a candidate for membership last summer, negotiations on accession have not even started. At the time, the EU tied this step to the fact that Ukraine met seven requirements, especially in the fight against corruption.
Von der Leyen only touched on these hurdles on Thursday and instead praised the country’s “impressive progress”. After the summer, your agency wants to present a detailed report on Ukraine’s progress with reforms.
Lavrov detects destructive intentions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused von der Leyen of destructive intentions. The head of the commission wanted Russia’s economy not to be able to recover “for many decades”, said the foreign minister on Russian state television. “Isn’t that racism, not National Socialism – not an attempt to solve ‘the Russian question’?” asked Lavrov, referring to the Second World War. On Thursday, Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Army’s victory over Nazi Germany’s troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Putin railed against the West
On this occasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of allowing itself to be drawn into a war with Russia. “It’s unbelievable, but it’s a fact: we’re being threatened again with the German Leopard tank,” Putin said at a ceremony in Volgograd (Stalingrad). As in the Second World War, German weapons are being used to fight against Russia on Ukrainian soil, said the 70-year-old. Contrary to what Putin portrayed, there were no Leopard tanks at the time.
Russia will defend itself this time as it did against the German troops, Putin said, referring to the war against Ukraine, which he himself started almost a year ago: “We have something we can answer with. And the matter does not end with the use of armored vehicles. Everyone should understand that,” he said.
Putin threatens Germany
Russian President Vladimir Putin is abusing the commemoration of the Soviet Army’s victory over Nazi German troops in Stalingrad 80 years ago: he once again claims that his war in Ukraine is a continuation of the fight against the Nazis. And Russia will fight back. Meanwhile, on her fourth visit to Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia must be held accountable for its heinous crimes.
He accused the “collective West” of pursuing anti-Russian policies similar to those under Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “Now, unfortunately, we see the ideology of Nazism in a modern face, in its modern form it creates a threat to security again.” Critics repeatedly accuse Putin of ignoring the commemoration of the Soviet Union’s victory against Hitler, which is sacred to many Russians -Abusing Germany in World War II for its propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine.
