“This is an important moment. We are sending a signal of unity and support to the Ukrainians to speak about the present and the future, when weeks ahead will be very difficult,” clearly referring to the battle for control of Donbass. French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, spoke on behalf of three European leaders who visited the Ukrainian capital for the first time at the height of the war. . In Kyiv, they were met by the sounds of anti-aircraft alarms. “Thank you for your solidarity,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel.

The image of the train ride is similar to the one we saw three months ago when Slovenian President Janez Jansa traveled to Kyiv; Mateusz Morawiecki from Poland and Petr Fiala from the Czech Republic. In April, US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III were in Kyiv.

Shortly after arriving in Kyiv, the three leaders from France, Germany and Italy traveled to Irpen, where the heaviest attacks were fought in the first weeks of the war. They were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The Quartet met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accepted an invitation from Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to attend the NATO summit in Madrid on June 29 and 30. A few hours before, he will decide if the conditions are met for it to be in person. If not, he will do it virtually, as he has spoken in dozens of parliaments around the world. He was also invited to the G-7.

“Irpin, like Bucha, is a symbol of the unimaginable cruelty of the war unleashed by Russia, a symbol of senseless violence. This war must end,” he wrote. on his Twitter account chancellor of Germany. Macron referred to the “barbarism” committed by Russia in Irpen. “France has been on the side of Ukraine from the first day. We are with the Ukrainians without ambiguity. Ukraine must endure and win,” the French president said in Irpin.

Heavy weapons and EU entry

The visit coincided with two significant events: on the one hand, the Ukrainian authorities emphasized that they received only ten percent of the weapons they needed from the West, and released a list of everything they would need to defeat Russia. The United States announced on Wednesday a new military aid of one billion euros, its largest so far.

According to military adviser to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine will need a thousand 15-mm howitzers; 300 MLRS; 500 tanks; 2000 combat vehicles and a thousand drones.

The German chancellor has repeatedly said that he will not go to Kyiv just to take a picture. This is the one most criticized by Ukrainians, especially the ambassador in Berlin, for the slow delivery of the promised military equipment and for his unwillingness to send heavy weapons.

In addition, this Friday the Commission will decide on the possibility of Ukraine becoming a candidate country, and the European Council will consider this issue within a week. Because this could take decades, Macron proposes creating a “European political community” for countries like Ukraine that share values ​​but can’t access them quickly because they don’t meet all the criteria. Italy is up and running, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi made this clear at a joint press conference: “Italy wants Ukraine to be in the EU, and therefore we will defend in the European Council that it be a candidate country. ”

Zelensky stressed to the four European leaders: “The status of a candidate country for Ukraine can strengthen freedom in Europe and become the most important decision of the third decade of the 21st century … Ukraine is at the forefront, but Russian aggression is against all of Europe.”

Ukrainian authorities also fear that the three European leaders are planning to pressure Kyiv into agreeing to a ceasefire that cements the Kremlin’s gains in Donbas. Macron recently said that Putin should not be “humiliated” in order to promote a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine. At a press conference, he made it clear that he would never negotiate with the Kremlin behind Kyiv’s back.

The head of the Russian negotiating delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, indicated that Moscow is ready to resume peace talks with Kyiv, although they are still waiting for a response to their latest proposals, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Kremlin showed its diplomatic sarcasm by hinting at the visit of three European leaders. Dmitry A. Medvedev, a former president and second seat on the Security Council, called them “experts on frogs, leberwurst and pasta.” On his Twitter account, you can read: “They promised to join the EU and the old howitzers, drank Ukrainian vodka and will go home, like 100 years ago.” And he added: “So Ukraine has not even come close to peace. And time goes by…