© Provided by Agencia EFE
Moscow/kyiv, Apr 9 (EFE).- Europe today expressed its firm support for the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with the visits of several leaders to kyiv, supplies of heavy weapons, help to investigate “war crimes” and promises early entry into the European Union (EU).
Zelensky welcomed the fact that the conflict has managed to unite the civilized world, the European countries, “in the defense of Ukraine and the Ukrainians” once morest a common enemy, Russia, which he described as “the greatest tyranny” on the planet.
The withdrawal of Russian troops from the kyiv region has brought to light numerous “atrocities” allegedly committed by the invading army, but it has also allowed for the first time since the start of the military campaign that European leaders travel to Ukraine to support Zelensky personally.
SURPRISE VISIT BY BORIS JOHNSON
After the EU leaders, it was the turn of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who paid a surprise visit to kyiv on Saturday.
“We are preparing a new financial and military assistance package that is testament to our commitment to your country’s (Ukraine’s) fight once morest the savage Russian campaign,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
He was referring to 120 armored vehicles and a batch of new anti-ship missile systems, to which must be added 500 million dollars in financial assistance.
London had reported on Friday the shipment of military equipment worth 100 million pounds (120 million euros), which included Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles and high-precision ammunition.
Johnson, who had warned on February 1 in kyiv of the political, humanitarian and military disaster that an invasion would entail, branded the killing of fifty people on Friday at a train station in Kramatorsk, the main Ukrainian military stronghold in Donbas.
The Ukrainian Presidency did not hesitate to describe the British prime minister as “a leader in military aid to Ukraine, leader of the coalition once morest the war and leader in sanctions once morest the Russian aggressor”.
AUSTRIA SUPPORTS MORE SANCTIONS, BUT NOT RUSSIAN GAS
Austrian Prime Minister Karl Nehammer also traveled to kyiv, recalling that his country is neutral from a military point of view, but cannot stand aside when “war crimes” occur.
Nehammer stressed that Vienna will support the tightening of sanctions “within the EU framework while the war does not end” and warned Moscow that the fifth package “will not be the last.”
In addition to offering to take in more refugees and open humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from the besieged port city of Mariupol, he told Zelensky that he would visit the town of Bucha, near kyiv, where hundreds of civilians are allegedly summarily killed by Russian troops.
During the joint press conference, Nehammer announced that his country will supply Ukraine with twenty rescue vehicles and ten fire trucks, but not with weapons.
Of course, the Central European leader warned that stopping buying Russian gas would have serious economic consequences for his country, a position shared by Germany and Hungary.
In this regard, Zelensky replied that every dollar and every euro that reaches Russia “is used for war” and that sanctions are the only way to stop “the Russian war machine.”
SLOVAKIA, ANTI-AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
In turn, Zelensky last night received the Slovak Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, who announced the supply to Ukraine of a Russian-made S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missile system.
The Ukrainian leader thanked Heger for his support “not only in words, but in deeds,” and described the shipment of heavy weapons in the midst of Russian “aggression” as “historic.”
“We hope that this system can help save as many innocent Ukrainians as possible from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s aggression,” Heger said.
It mattered little that Russia warned this week once morest the reshipment of heavy Russian or Soviet weapons without written authorization from Moscow, which reserved retaliatory measures.
In exchange for aid to Ukraine, the US announced on Friday the deployment of a Patriot anti-missile battery on Slovak soil.
ENTRY INTO THE EU
Zelensky also received assurances that the path to EU membership is paved. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, handed him a form on Friday with questions that the Ukrainian leader promised to answer “within a week.”
Ukraine, which applied for membership on February 28, must respect the fundamental values of the bloc, have democratic institutions and a market economy.
As reported today by the Ukrainian government, kyiv expects to receive the status of a candidate for entry in June, a process that it wants to speed up as part “of the victory over the Russian aggressor, who wants to interrupt Ukraine’s democratic course.”
In a gesture of diplomatic solidarity, the EU office in kyiv reopened its doors, a decision that will soon be supported by several member countries.
In addition, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced in kyiv that the EU will allocate another 500 million euros so that Ukraine can acquire weapons.
“This war will be won on the battlefield,” he wrote on Twitter.
On Saturday during the global campaign to donate funds for Ukrainian refugees, Polish President Andrzej Duda called for “a new Marshall Plan for Ukraine.”
Zelensky admitted that the fate of the contest will depend both on “how far” Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to go, and on the speed with which the West supplies weapons to the Ukrainian Army.
“Ukraine has always said that it is ready to negotiate and will look for any way to end the war,” he assured, while admitting preparations for “the decisive battle in the east of the country,” the Donbas.
(c) EFE Agency
