Europe sent a powerful symbol of solidarity with Ukraine on Friday as Brussels backed Kyiv’s bid for EU candidate status, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “nothing against”.
With the support of the European Commission, Ukraine could join the list of candidate countries for membership as early as next week, when the leaders of the member states meet at their summit in Brussels.
All 27 leaders are expected to accept the bid, but the leaders of the bloc’s biggest members – France, Germany and Italy – threw their wholehearted backing at the idea on Thursday during a trip to a suburb of War-torn Kyiv.
On Friday, the European Commission formally backed the bid and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen made her position clear by donning a striking jacket in Ukraine’s national colors.
“We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us for the European dream,” she said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately hailed the decision as a “first step on the road to EU membership which will certainly bring our victory closer.”
He thanked von der Leyen for the committee’s ‘historic decision’ and said he expected EU leaders to give Ukraine a ‘positive outcome’ at the 23-24 summit. June.
Putin said Russia had ‘nothing against’ Ukraine’s EU membership, saying it was ‘their sovereign decision whether or not to join economic unions’ – contrary to the risk to the EU. security he sees in Kyiv’s NATO membership.
But he said EU membership would turn Ukraine into a “semi-colony” of the West.
Russia previously said the West was “manipulating” Ukraine with promises of integration.
As Brussels celebrated its breakthrough, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to Kyiv for his second visit since the February 24 Russian invasion.
“Many days of this war have proven that Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
Johnson’s office tweeted a photo of the prime minister meeting the Ukrainian leader, carrying a stack of books and documents under one arm.
“My visit today, deep into this war, is to send a clear and simple message to the people of Ukraine: the UK is with you, and we will be with you until you finally win. “, Johnson said.
According to Downing Street, Johnson offered to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, training up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days and “changing the equation of war”.
Each Ukrainian soldier would spend three weeks on the British training course, learning combat tactics, basic medical skills, cybersecurity and anti-explosives tactics.
Russian bombardment
Once Ukraine joins the list of EU candidates – alongside several Western Balkan countries – it could still take years to meet all formal membership requirements, even if Kyiv wins in the war.
“Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country – this is based on the understanding that good work has been done but important work also remains to be done,” von der Leyen said.
And meanwhile, the fighting continues, with Russian forces shelling pockets of Ukrainian resistance on the Severodonetsk front line, including civilians holed up in a chemical plant in the eastern Ukrainian city.
Moscow has increased pressure on Western allies, sharply reducing the flow of natural gas through its pipelines to Western Europe, driving up energy prices.
The French grid provider said it had not received Russian gas by pipeline from Germany since June 15, and Italy’s Eni said it expected Russian company Gazprom to reduce half its supplies on Friday.
Several European countries, including Italy and Germany, rely heavily on Russian gas for their energy needs, and as the West sides with Ukraine, Moscow is cutting off supplies.
“Extremely alarming”
Berlin and Rome rejected Russia’s argument that technical problems caused the drop in supplies, arguing that the decision by state-owned Gazprom is political.
But Western Europe is engulfed in a heat wave and energy prices are already soaring, adding to runaway inflation and industrial action in several economies.
The situation is, of course, more dramatic in Ukraine itself, where Russian troops occupied parts of the south and east of the country during the 113-day war, including much of the Donbass region.
“The humanitarian situation across Ukraine – particularly in eastern Donbas – is extremely alarming and continues to deteriorate rapidly,” said the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.
The statement said the situation is “particularly worrying in and around Severodonetsk,” where bloody battles have been raging for weeks.
Severodonetsk is in the Luhansk region, where Governor Serhiy Haidai has called for a ceasefire, saying hundreds of civilians were trapped at the beleaguered Azot chemical plant in the city.
“It is now impossible and physically dangerous to get out of the factory because of the constant shelling and fighting. There are 568 people in the shelter, including 38 children,” he said.
‘God’s will’
Haidai said earlier this week that around 10,000 civilians remained in the city, which is mostly controlled by Russian forces.
In the frontline village of Adamivka in the Donbass near the city of Sloviansk, a community of Orthodox nuns saw a rocket hole explode in the wall of their well-kept garden.
Under near-constant bombardment from Russian forces, Sister Anastasi and a group of other black-clad nuns and pilgrims live hand to mouth, praying for deliverance.
“We’re all alive, yes. No one’s gone. This is our home,” she said quietly, her face framed in a black veil, as shells crashed in the distance.
“We trust in the will of God, in the help of God, in the help of all the saints and the Blessed Virgin. This is our home, we have nowhere to go.”
At least two people were killed and 20 injured in a Russian strike on a residential area in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the local governor said.
Separately, Zelensky announced an end to visa-free travel enjoyed by Russian citizens, many of whom have Ukrainian relatives, since Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
