European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen attends an EU summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Prime Minister Denis Schmeichel as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 2, 2023. Photo credit: Reuters
Top EU officials were due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Kyiv on February 3 in a show of support for the country. Attack of Russia and seeks to join the European Union as well as NATO.
European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, as well as 15 European commissioners, traveled to the Ukrainian capital for what they described as a summit. The last such summit was held in Kyiv in October 2021 – just months before the war began.
Explanation | The next phase of the Russia-Ukraine war
EU aid to Ukraine has reached nearly 50 billion euros ($55 billion) since the conflict began, according to EU officials.
The European Union is providing financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, among other things. It also plans to re-apply a 10th package of sanctions against Russia in the coming weeks.
Ukraine wants to join the 27-nation bloc, although that could take years and require the adoption of far-reaching reforms. Meanwhile, Ms van der Leyen said on February 2 that the European Commission was ready to allow Kyiv to join some “key European programmes” that would bring membership-like benefits.
Those programs, which were to be discussed at Friday’s meeting, would also address one of the obstacles to Ukraine’s EU membership: local corruption.
Ms van der Leyen, on her fourth visit to Kyiv since the Russian invasion, said on Thursday that she was “satisfied” with Ukraine’s anti-corruption campaign. Yesterday, Mr. Zielinski targeted corrupt officials for the second time in a week. Many high-ranking officials were sacked.
Mr Zielinski was elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country long plagued by corruption. The latest corruption allegations came as Western allies provided billions of dollars to help Kyiv fight Moscow’s forces.
Lessons from Russia’s Ukraine War
Ukraine’s government is keen to get more Western military aid, with tanks promised last week, as the warring sides are expected to launch new offensives as winter ends. Kyiv is now asking for fighter jets.
The United States is expected to announce on Friday that it will send long-range bombs to Ukraine as part of a new $2.17 billion aid package.
