Leaders of 3 EU nations travel to war-torn Kyiv
Prime ministers brave trip by train amid security risks
WARSAW, Poland — The prime ministers of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia traveled to the embattled Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Tuesday in a show of support for Ukraine even as bombardment by the Russian military edged closer to the center of the city.
Separately, new European Union sanctions against Russia on Tuesday sought to deny oligarchs their love of luxury and block Russia from cashing in on its lucrative steel exports. The United Kingdom also joined in the targeting.
The 27-nation bloc sought to stay away from sanctions that would sap its supply of Russian energy, but pounced with measures worth billions while stifling Russia’s ability to work on global markets by banning EU rating agencies from working with Russian clients.
This time special attention was paid to the elite by targeting luxury goods. It ranged from truffles, Champagne, cigars and perfumes to fine wines, rare wristwatches, pearls and diamonds.
Meanwhile, the three prime ministers went ahead with the hourslong train trip despite worries within the EU about the security risks of traveling within a war zone.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on social media in the evening that he, deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the Czech and Slovenian leaders were in Kyiv.
“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance,” Morawiecki said on Twitter.
It was a symbol of support for Ukraine while the long journey over land from Poland to Kyiv sent another signal too: that most of Ukraine still remains in Ukrainian hands.
“The courage of true friends of Ukraine!” commented Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Poland’s leaders, together with Prime Ministers Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic and Janez Jansa of Slovenia, said they were on an EU mission. But officials from the 27-nation bloc insisted that the trio had undertaken the trip independently.
The three Central European nations are former communist bloc countries that now belong to both the EU and NATO. Underlining the deteriorating security situation in Kyiv, a series of strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the city again Tuesday.
Jansa described the visit as a way to send a message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to be accepted one day into the EU. Two weeks earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament on that subject.
On Tuesday, Britain announced sanctions against 350 individuals and entities and promised to ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.
Furthermore, Britain will impose additional import tariffs of 35% on Russian and Belarusian products ranging from vodka and whitefish to iron, oil, seeds and grain.
Russia also imposed some sanctions of its own, putting President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top Biden administration officials on its own list.
“None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts that we won’t be able to access. So we will forge ahead,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
The EU has already hit about 600 Russians during four rounds of sanctions, including 15 individuals and nine entities in the fourth package.
It affected one oligarch already targeted by Britain, Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich, who was slapped with an asset freeze and a travel ban.
In New York, Russia circulated a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution demanding protection for civilians “in vulnerable situations” in Ukraine and safe passage for humanitarian aid and people seeking to leave the country, but it make no mention of Russia’s responsibility for the war against its smaller neighbor.
The draft resolution endorses U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for dialogue and negotiations and calls for a negotiated cease-fire to rapidly evacuate “all civilians,” and underscores “the need for the parties concerned to agree on humanitarian pauses to this end.”
But it never identifies “the parties concerned.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the resolution was being put in a final form, and a Russian diplomat said a vote could take place as early as Wednesday.