The European Union (EU) and Ukraine are going to hold a summit in Kiev next Friday (3). The Ukrainian president welcomed the holding of this summit in the capital, saying that it is “a strong signal” sent to Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky hopes the meeting will reflect a high level of “cooperation and progress” with the EU and said his government plans to implement reforms as part of efforts to join the European bloc.
The summit with the 27 member states of the European Union is an important step for Ukraine, which seeks to join the European bloc after having received the status of official candidate to EU membership.
In his speech on Tuesday night (31), the Ukrainian president welcomed the holding of the summit, hoping that the meeting reflects a high level “of cooperation and progress” with the EU. “We are waiting for news for Ukraine” , said Zelensky.
“The fact that this summit is being held in Kiev sends a strong signal to both our partners and our enemies,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, declaring that he expects from the summit “an interim positive assessment of our efforts towards European integration”.
The Ukrainian president has announced that he plans to implement government reforms as part of efforts to move ahead with negotiations to secure Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“What is very important is that we are preparing new reforms in Ukraine,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“These are reforms that in many respects will change social, legal and political realities, making them more humane, more transparent and more effective”, he added.
In recent weeks, Zelensky’s government has suffered a wave of resignations after news published in the press of the country on corruption cases. The restructuring of Kiev’s executive is an effort to eliminate corruption in Ukraine, one of the EU’s main demands for Kiev’s integration into the European bloc.
European politicians
This Wednesday (1st), former British Prime Minister and current British Conservative MP Boris Johnson called for the immediate start of Ukraine’s accession process to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), arguing that this would be the only way to wage war.
Former chairman of NATO’s Military Committee and current president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, also said today that Ukraine is “morally and practically ready” to become part of the alliance once the conflict is over. He also supported the arms supply to Ukraine from the West:
“We have no alternative. If we leave Ukraine unassisted, they would most likely lose this war. And if they lose, we all lose.”
tanks
The summit takes place in two days, after Western allies have advanced into the negotiations for the shipment of tanks for Ukraine, and Germany finally having given the necessary approval.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kiev expects receive between 120 and 140 western tanks to expel the Russian army.
This is the first time that Kiev has revealed the total number of modern heavy weapons promised by its western allies. Ukraine had previously indicated that it would need several hundred of these heavy tanks, long-range missiles and aircraft to be able to carry out counter-offensives capable of reconquering Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
In addition to the Western Allies’ Leopard 2 tanks, Ukraine will also receive US M1 Abrams.
US President Joe Biden said yesterday that talks were underway with Kiev to schedule future military aid, but he rejected providing F16 fighter jets to Kiev, which has been calling for an aviation boost to defeat Moscow.
The West fears that even more massive military support could push the Kremlin into an escalation of violence, as Russia has claimed the Western deployment of tanks to Kiev was a ‘extremely dangerous’ decision that will take the conflict to a “new level of confrontation”.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its one-year anniversary, the Israeli president said today that he is considering sending military aid to Ukraine. In an interview with CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu showed that he is still willing to serve as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine if requested.
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