German PM Olav Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Premier Mario Draghi spoke from Ukraine war Kyiv yesterday
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian PM Mario Draghi and the German PM Olav Scholz met President Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday. The trio travelled overland to support Ukraine war membership in EU. They then held a press conference where they made their stand. President Klaus Iohannis of Romania was present in the meeting too.
European Leaders express Approval for Ukraine’s EU Membership
President Macron pledged his support on behalf of the four nations. “ This is a message of European unity addressed to Ukrainian men and women of support,” Macron said.
“We all four support the immediate EU candidate status ( to Ukraine). We are and we will remain by your side in the long run to defend your security, territorial integrity and freedom. This is our goal. We have no other and we will achieve it,” he said. Prime Minister Scholz expressed his support for Ukraine war too. “My colleagues and I came with a clear message: Ukraine belongs to the European family”, he said.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi supported investigations into alleged Russian crimes in Ukraine. “I want to say today that the most important message of my visit is that Italy wants Ukraine war in EU. And it wants Ukraine to have candidate status. Italy will support this in the European Council”, he said. “ We are at a turning point in our history. The Ukrainian people defend every day the values of democracy and freedom that underpin the European project, our project. We cannot wait, we cannot delay this process,” Draghi said. Italy wants to stop atrocities in Ukraine and call for peace, but any diplomatic solution cannot be separated from Kyiv’s will.
Zelensky urges EU to send more Weapons
The EU will make its recommendation public on Ukraine’s membership today. Recently, various quarters within Ukraine have criticized Macron. The EU is foot-dragging in supplying weapons to Kyiv. Also Macron seeks to pressure Zelensky into holding peace talks with Russia, they say. Any Russian dictated peace will definitely lead to loss of Ukrainian held territory, they fear. Yet Thursday’s meeting suggests otherwise. The German premier Olav Scholz ruled out any prospects of a Russian dictated peace.
“Russia cannot impose a path to peace.It cannot get away with giving Ukraine conditions that cannot be accepted, neither by Ukraine, nor by us” he said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky asked Europe to provide more weapons to fight Russia.
“We appreciate the support already provided by partners. We expect new deliveries, primarily heavy weapons, modern rocket artillery, anti-missile defence systems”, Zelensky said.
“ Everyday of delay or delayed decisions is an opportunity for Russian military to kill Ukrainians or destroy our cities. There is a direct correlation: the more powerful weapons we get, the faster we can liberate our people”.
Macron seems to have followed suit. He has asked the French arms manufacturer Nexter to increase production of its “Caesar” howitzers. Sources say that France has ordered Nexter to work in a war-time mode. France will send its own howitzers to Ukraine while it has to replenish its own supplies.
Leaders Visited Irpin after Talks
After mutual talks regarding Ukraine’s membership in the EU, the leaders paid a visit to Irpin. The town was a battlefield in the early stages of the Ukraine invasion. The tour highlighted Russia’s “ large scale atrocities” during the invasion. The four leaders looked at gutted buildings, charred cars and other signs of death and destruction. “It is a heroic city marked by the stigma of barbarism,” Macron said. Scholz described it as a scene of “unimaginable cruelty” and “senseless violence.”
Yesterday’s event bolstered Ukraine’s hopes to be an EU member. However, the path to membership is long and arduous. It may even take a decade. Meanwhile, the Russian Vice President Dmitriy Medvedev seems appears unimpressed. He called European leaders as “ European connoiseurs of frogs ,liverwurst and pasta”. Kremlin too sees yesterday meeting as nothing but empty symbolism
(inputs, France 24, BBC,The New York Times, Reuters)
