Macron decries massacres, war crimes as European leaders visit Ukraine to support Zelensky

French President Emmanuel Macron said massacres and war crimes had been committed by Russian forces in Irpin, as he and other European leaders visited the town on Thursday before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It’s a heroic city, marked by the stigmata of barbarism,” Macron told reporters.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron in Irpin on Thursday.Credit: Ludovic Marin/AP Pool

Macron denounced the attacks that devastated the town and praised the courage of residents of Irpin and other Kyiv region towns who held back Russians forces from attacking the capital.

Irpin, which had a pre-war population of about 62,000, was one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops before they pulled back from Ukraine’s northern regions to intensify their offensive in the east.

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania arrived in Kyiv on Thursday in a show of collective European support for Ukraine, marking the highest-profile visit to the war-torn nation’s capital since Russia invaded.

The French president’s office said Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Premier Mario Draghi had travelled to Kyiv together. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis joined them there.

From left, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz together in Kyiv on Thursday,Credit: Natacha Pisarenko

Standing by gutted, burnt-out buildings in nearby Irpin, the leaders looked stern as they listened to a Ukrainian minister explaining what had happened there. Dressed in suits but not wearing any visible protective equipment, they were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

The leaders were shown the wreckage of a car that Ukraine says was targeted by Russian troops when a mother and children were inside. Russia denies allegations that its forces committed atrocities.

“It is an important moment,” Macron said earlier, after getting off the train in Kyiv. “It is a message of European unity toward Ukrainians.”

The leaders arrived on a special overnight train provided by the Ukrainian authorities and held long meetings in the dining car after midnight to align their positions ahead of meeting with Zelensky.

Macron’s office later said he had met Zelensky in Kyiv, marking the first time the two leaders had met physically since the invasion began in February.

The visit carries heavy symbolic weight given that the three Western European powers have often faced criticism for not providing Ukraine with the scale of weapons that Zelensky has been begging them for, and for their willingness to keep speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin — something Baltic and Central European leaders have found unacceptable. The economies of France, Germany and Italy are the three largest in the European Union.

Hopes were high among Ukrainians that the visit could mark a turning point by opening the way to significant new arms supplies.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that it hoped the leaders of France, Germany and Italy would use their visit to Kyiv to discuss other subjects than the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

Macron, centre, Scholz, right, and Italian Draghi worked late into the night “to align their positions” before meeting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: Ludovic Marin/AP

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a call with reporters that Macron, Scholz and Draghi should use their time with Zelensky to take a “realistic look at the state of affairs”.

The visit comes as EU leaders prepare to make a decision on June 23-24 on Ukraine’s request to become a candidate for EU membership, and ahead of an important NATO summit on June 29-30 in Madrid.

NATO defence ministers are meeting in Brussels to weigh more military aid for Ukraine. On Wednesday, the US and Germany announced more aid, as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders.

On Tuesday, during a trip to Ukraine’s neighbours Romania and Moldova, Macron said a “message of support” must be sent to Ukraine before EU heads of state and government “have to make important decisions” at their Brussels meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging European leaders to supply high-powered weapons.Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office

“We are in a moment where we need to send clear political signals — we, Europeans, we the European Union — toward Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said.

Macron is deeply involved in diplomatic efforts to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would allow future peace negotiations. He has frequent discussions with Zelensky and has spoken on the phone several times with Putin since the launch of the invasion in late February.

Scholz had long resisted travelling to Kyiv, saying he didn’t want to “join the queue of people who do a quick in-out for a photo opportunity”. Instead, Scholz said a trip should focus on doing “concrete things”.

Germany on Wednesday announced that it will provide Ukraine with three multiple launch rocket systems of the kind that Kyiv has said it urgently needs to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said Germany would transfer three M270 medium-range artillery rocket systems along with ammunition to Ukraine.

Germany said the transfer, which echoes similar moves by Britain and the United States, will be accompanied by training and will have “a swift and significant battlefield impact”.

Reuters, AP