Western leaders mark 2 years since invasion
KYIV, UKRAINE >> President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Western leaders to Kyiv on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and foreign aid hangs in the balance.
Allies from the EU and the Group of Seven wealthy democracies rallied around Kyiv to express solidarity, with Zelenskyy joining a virtual G7 meeting Saturday and four world leaders traveling to Ukraine's war-weary capital.
“Two years ago, here, we met enemy landing forces with fire; two years later, we meet our friends and our partners here,” Zelenskyy said as he met the dignitaries at Hostomel airfield just outside of Kyiv, which Russian paratroopers unsuccessfully tried to seize in the first days of the war.
A somber mood hangs over Ukraine as the war against Russia enters its third year and Kyiv's troops face mounting challenges on the frontline amid dwindling supplies and personnel challenges. Its troops recently withdrew from the strategic eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Moscow one of its biggest victories. And Russia still controls roughly a quarter of the country after Ukraine failed to make any major breakthroughs with its summertime counteroffensive.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv shortly after a Russian drone attack struck a residential building in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least one person. Three women also sustained severe burns in the attack Friday evening, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper wrote on his social media account. Rescue services combed through the rubble looking for survivors.
Hours later, Zelenskyy's office announced the signing of 10-year bilateral security deals with Canada and Italy, with Ottawa committing to send Kyiv 3.02 billion Canadian dollars (close to $2.2 billion U.S.) in military and economic aid this year while Rome promised much-needed longrange weapons.
In a joint news conference, Meloni hailed the agreement with Kyiv and said, “We will continue to support Ukraine in what I have always deemed the just right of its people to defend itself.”
“Confusing the much-bandied about word `peace' with `surrender,' as some people do, is a hypocritical approach that we will never share,” she said.
Meloni also chaired a G7 video conference from Kyiv that produced a joint statement Saturday reaffirming world leaders' commitment to “supporting a comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” tightening sanctions on Russia and sending Ukraine military and economic aid for “as long as it takes.”
Von der Leyen vowed the bloc will stand with Ukraine “financially, economically, militarily, and most of all, morally, until (the) country is finally free.”
Zelenskyy highlighted the urgency of timely arms deliveries, while pledging that Kyiv would not use weapons from allied countries to strike Russian territory. His words reflected an increasingly tense battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv's troops are trying to hold back Russian advances despite a escalating ammunition shortage.
On the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers pleaded for shells.
“When the enemy comes in, a lot of our guys die . ... We are sitting here with nothing,” said Volodymyr, 27, a senior officer in an artillery battery. In order to protect our infantry ... we need a high number of shells, which we do not have now,” said Oleksandr, 45, a commander of an artillery unit. The two officers gave only their first names, citing security concerns.
About 100 people gathered outside St. Sophia's Cathedral in central Kyiv Saturday, calling for the release of Azov Brigade members who were taken captive by Russia after defending the southern city of Mariupol.
Olena Petrivna, the mother of a member taken by Russian forces questioned why Russia invaded Ukraine, saying that before the war people “lived our own lives, not bothering anyone, raising our children”.
The Russians, she said, tried to conquer Ukraine to teach them what to say and what language to speak but, she added, “We don't need them.
“We have one destiny — victory. We must win.”