Representing the three largest economies of the European Union, German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in Ukraine this Thursday (16/06).
According to Macron, the trio traveled to the country to convey a “message of European unity to the Ukrainians” amid Russia’s war against the eastern European country. Alongside the three European leaders, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also went to Ukraine. The quartet met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
“[Essa viagem] “This is a message of support to Ukrainians to talk about the European Union, the present and the future, because we know the next few weeks will be very difficult,” he said.
German Olaf Scholz, shortly before his arrival in Kiev, said that the purpose of the trip was to guarantee the continuity of solidarity and support for Ukraine.
“We don’t just want to show solidarity, but we also want to ensure that the aid we are organizing – financial, humanitarian, but also weapons – continues. And we want to make sure that we continue to do so as long as it is necessary for Ukraine’s struggle for independence,” said Scholz.
However, members of the Ukrainian government have openly expressed fears that the three leaders may use the visit to pressure the Ukrainian government to accept a peace deal in favor of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He. in combat.
Germany and France have turbulent relations with Kyiv, and members of the Ukrainian government regularly criticize what these two countries call “hesitancy” to support Ukraine with more weapons.
Recently, Macron said it was vital that the West not “humiliate” Putin. Currently, Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine’s territory. Macron and Scholz have also been criticized recently by Ukraine’s ally Poland, for the frequent contacts of the leaders of Germany and France with Putin.
Travel
Macron, Scholz and Draghi traveled on a special train that departed from a station in Poland from Wednesday to Thursday and has not yet been identified.
The leaders traveled in different cars, but had a two-hour meeting with Zelensky to discuss their meeting. The three consented to be photographed during these conversations.
The Italian press emphasized the strong security measures that ensure the passage of the train, as the plan held in Kiev, where 300 members of the Ukrainian army will be counted.
The three leaders were greeted with air raid sirens in the Ukrainian capital as Russia continued to strike targets across the country. A night-launched Russian rocket hit the northern Ukrainian suburb of Sumy, killing four and injuring six, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.
The three leaders were filmed visiting the town of Irpin, a few kilometers from Kiev, which was the scene of fierce fighting in the first weeks of Russia’s occupation, shortly after their arrival in Ukraine.
There, Scholz said, Irpin has become a symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “cruelty” of its violence. “The brutal destruction of this city is a warning: this war must end,” said Scholz.
Macron, on the other hand, condemned the “barbarism” in the city. “It is a heroic city marked by barbarism,” the French president told reporters.
The Trio’s visit came at a sensitive time as Ukraine intensified its complaints about the slow delivery of weapons from the West. Scholz became the main target of complaints from Kiev. It is common for Ukraine’s Ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, to complain about Germany’s timidity and condemn Berlin’s failure to deliver the promised weapons.
In April, relations between Berlin and Kyiv hit a low point after Kiev refused the visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The leaders’ first joint visit comes a week before the EU summit, where European leaders will discuss Ukraine’s desire to join the 27-nation bloc. Ukraine does not hide that it expects a very strong symbolic gesture at this meeting, such as a declaration of support for the country’s EU candidacy.
However, Kiev’s prospects are viewed with reservations by many countries in the bloc. The French government, for example, insisted that a balance must be found between “Ukraine’s ambitions and those of other countries that are negotiating their accession without “destabilizing or disintegrating the EU”. Macron also said that Ukraine’s membership “could take decades”.
source: Noticias
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