European leaders take trip to Kyiv

FOUR European leaders made a high-profile visit to show their support for Ukraine yesterday, denouncing the brutality of the Russian invasion as they surveyed the ruins of a Kyiv suburb that was the scene of intense fighting early in the war.

After arriving in Kyiv to the sound of air raid sirens, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania headed to Irpin, which was seized and briefly held by Russian troops along with other areas near the capital.

Mass graves have been unearthed in the area, most notably in Bucha. French president Emmanuel Macron decried the massacres and said there were signs of war crimes.

“It’s a message of European unity for the Ukrainian people, support now and in the future, because the weeks to come will be very difficult,” Macron said.

The visit, which includes a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, carries heavy symbolic weight given that the three Western European powers have faced criticism for not providing Ukraine with the scale of weaponry Zelenskyy has been asking for.

They have also been criticised for not visiting Kyiv sooner.

A number of other leaders had already made the long trip overland to show solidarity with the besieged nation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had long resisted travelling to Kyiv, saying he did not want to “join the queue of people who do a quick in-out for a photo opportunity.”

The visit comes as EU leaders prepare to make a decision June 23-24 on Ukraine becoming a candidate for EU membership, and ahead of a key NATO summit June 29-30 in Madrid.