Ukraine hopes for progress on path to EU
KYIV: Ukraine will hold a summit with the European Union in Kyiv this week, the government announced on Tuesday, as it expressed hope the conference would bring the war-battered nation closer to attaining bloc membership almost a year after Russia launched its invasion.
Ukraine also announced it expected to receive up to 140 modern battle tanks from its Western allies, while the prospect of more advanced weapons for Kyiv came from the United States.
In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped the Friday summit would reflect a high “level of cooperation and progress” with the 27-member bloc, which Kyiv has long sought to join.
“We are waiting for news for Ukraine,” he added.
The fact the summit is being held in the Ukrainian capital sends “a powerful signal to both partners and enemies,” Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said. “It is a message that Europe believes in Ukraine’s victory and supports our rapid movement toward EU membership.”
Ukraine gained EU candidate status last June, several months after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops rolling across the border.
No details were provided on who would attend the summit from the EU side.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a dozen countries had promised more than 100 tanks after Germany and the US signed off on the deliveries last week.
“These are Leopard 2, Challenger 2, M1 Abrams,” he added, 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.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu also announced that his country would send 12 more Caesar truck-mounted howitzers to Ukraine.
Now Zelenskyy is urging the West to supply fighter jets and long-range missiles.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would discuss the new requests for advanced weaponry with Zelenskyy.
“We’re going to talk,” Biden told reporters, speaking the morning after he answered with an emphatic “no” when asked at the White House whether he favored sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
And The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Tuesday that a US defense company, General Atomics, had offered to sell Kyiv two Reaper MQ-9 drones for a dollar as it prepares for an expected Russian offensive.
Under the deal, Kyiv would have to spend about $10 million to ship the aircraft to Ukraine, and about $8 million each year for maintenance, the WSJ said, citing a General Atomics letter to a Ukrainian diplomat.
There was no immediate comment on the report from Washington.
These came after Russia claimed gains in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, with its Defense Ministry announcing it had “liberated” the village of Blagodatne, north of the city of Bakhmut.
Blagodatne lies on a highway leading toward Bakhmut, and its announced capture comes not long after Ukraine conceded it had given up the nearby salt-mining town of Soledar.
AFP journalists about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Bakhmut heard sporadic shelling coming from Vuhledar, which both 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 Vuhledar.
On Tuesday, Kyiv said a 12-yearold 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 fightings 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.
Also on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused Ukraine of using banned antipersonnel landmines against invading Russian forces, saying almost 50 civilians — including five children — had been wounded.
In response, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry insisted that the army was upholding its treaty obligations against mines, but would not comment on the types of weaponry used until the war ends.