The EU on Friday pledged to support Ukraine "every step of the way" in its quest for bloc membership as top officials gathered in Kyiv for a summit to discuss the extension of military and humanitarian assistance, as well as an eventual post-war reconstruction programme. But Ukraine presses for more.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, host of the Kyiv summit, said Friday that his military would be able to hold ground in the eastern Donbas region and recapture territory if his Western backers sped up arms deliveries.
His words came after remarks by European Council President Charles Michel, who said that the EU “will support (Ukraine) in every way we can, for as long as it takes,” adding that Brussels will “not be intimidated nu the Kremlin.”
his military would be able to hold ground in the eastern Donbas region and recapture territory if his Western backers sped up arms deliveries.
According to Michel, the EU has mobilized “nearly € 12 million of military support, including lethal military support.” The EU is also training “an initial” 30.000 Ukrainian soldiers in 2023.
Apart from that, Brussels has secured €18 billion of Macro-Financial Assistance for 2023. According to Michel, overall EU support to Ukraine “amounts to nearly €50 billion.
EU Membership
Ukraine’s leader was also pressing the EU for speedy membership.
The bloc granted candidate status to Ukraine last June, but the path to full membership is normally long and arduous.
Zelensky said following talks with von der Leyen on Thursday that Ukraine "deserves to start negotiations on EU membership this year.
"Only together can a strong Ukraine and a strong European Union protect the life we value."
Von der Leyen said the EU intended to finalise new sanctions against Russia by 24 February, the first anniversary of the invasion.
Russia shrugs off sanctions
Russian leader Vladimir Putin insists Russia is weathering the storm of sanctions imposed by Ukraine's Western allies. He said his forces will continue to fight regardless of the penalties.
But von der Leyen said that sanctions were already "eroding" Russia's economy.
She estimated that an oil price cap introduced in December was costing Moscow around 160 million euros every day.
An EU ban on Russian oil products like diesel, gasoline and jet fuel, is set to come into effect on Sunday alongside a G7 price cap on these products.
But the Kremlin warned Friday that the measures will destabilise global markets.
"This will lead to a further imbalance of international energy markets, but we are taking measures to protect our interests against the risks associated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Notable steps being taken against graft
Corruption is a key European concern. Ukraine has recently widened efforts to tackle graft with officials warning of an ongoing fight against an "internal enemy".
The latest measures have seen highly publicised raids by the security services targeting residences of an oligarch with deep political connections and a former interior minister.
And on Friday, the head of Ukraine's anti-corruption agency insisted that the Russian invasion had triggered a substantial and "irreversible" fall in graft in what has long been one of Europe's most corrupt countries.
"During the first months of the war, we saw that corruption had practically disappeared," Oleksandr Novikov, head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAPC), claimed during an interview with the French press agency AFP.
Epicenter
Kyiv has secured promises from the West for deliveries of modern battle tanks to fight Russian forces and is now asking for long-range missiles and fighter jets.
A German government spokesman said Friday that Berlin has authorised Leopard 1 tanks to be sent to Ukraine.
Despite a steady flow of arms and ammunition, Russian forces are pressing Ukrainian troops in the eastern Donetsk region, now the epicentre of fighting.
