EU summit to be held in Kyiv thumbs the nose at Moscow

Volodymyr ­Zelensky hopes the meeting will reflect a high ‘level of co-operation and progress’ with the 27-member bloc.

Destroyed Russian military vehicles on display in Kyiv. Picture: Getty Images

Ukraine will hold a summit with the EU in Kyiv this week, the government announced Tuesday, as it expressed hope the conference will bring the war-battered nation closer to EU membership almost a year after the Russian invasion.

Kyiv also announced it expects to receive up to 140 tanks from its Western allies, and the prospect of more advanced weapons for Ukraine came from the US.

In his evening address to the nation, President Volodymyr ­Zelensky said he was hopeful the summit, which will take place in the Ukrainian capital on Friday, will reflect a “high level of co-operation and progress” with the 27-member bloc, which Kyiv has long sought to join. “We are waiting for news for Ukraine,” he said.

Announcing the summit earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said: “The fact that this summit will be held in Kyiv is a powerful signal to both partners and enemies.”

Mr Shmygal also said another key event will take place on Thursday, when consultations between the government of Ukraine and the European Commission will take place “for the first time in our history”. Ukraine gained EU candidacy status last June.

No details were provided on who would be attending the summit on the EU side.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a dozen countries had promised more than 100 tanks after Germany and Washington signed off on the deliveries last week. “These are Leopard 2, Challenger 2, M1 Abrams,” he said, without specifying a timeline for the deliveries.

The decision to supply the weapons came after weeks of diplomatic wrangling and was seen as a breakthrough in the West’s backing for Ukraine in its fight to win back territory from Russian forces. Now Mr Zelensky is urging the West to supply fighter jets and long-range missiles. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he will be discussing the new requests for advanced weaponry with Mr Zelensky.

“We’re going to talk,” Mr Biden said the morning after he answered with an emphatic “no” when asked at the White House whether he favoured sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said his country would send 12 more Caesar truck-mounted howitzers to Ukraine. Alongside other Western-supplied mobile cannons, the Caesar was credited last year with helping Ukraine strike targets deep behind Russian lines, undermining Moscow’s offensive.

Despite the flows of Western weapons, Russia has recently claimed gains in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. Its Defence Ministry announced it had “liberated” the village of Blagodatne, north of Bakhmut.

Blagodatne lies on a highway leading towards Bakhmut, and its announced capture comes not long after Ukraine conceded it had given up the nearby salt-mining town of Soledar. About 150km south of Bakhmut sporadic shelling could be heard coming from Vugledar, which Moscow and Kyiv have said is seeing an uptick in fighting.

“It’s very tense, the more time passes the worse, worse and worse it gets,” said Oleksandr, a 45-year-old Ukrainian serviceman operating a mortar near Vugledar.

On Tuesday, Kyiv said a 12-year-old boy and 70-year-old man were killed during Russia’s latest barrage in Bakhmut, which Moscow has been seeking to seize for months in some of the heaviest fighting of the war.

“The Russians are razing Bakhmut to the ground, killing everyone they can get their hands on,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region’s governor.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused Ukraine of using banned anti-personnel landmines against invading Russian forces, saying almost 50 civilians, including five children, had been wounded. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry insisted the army upholds its treaty obligations against mines, but will not comment on the types of weapons used until the war ends.

AFP