French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi have traveled to Kyiv on Thursday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today.
The European leaders traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland for the high-profile visit, becoming the latest in a line of leaders to make the trip to the Ukrainian capital.
The visit by the four European leaders has taken weeks to organize, with the French, German and Italian leaders looking to rebuff criticism of their response to the war.
They are all being accused of being slow and somewhat reluctant to support Ukraine with weapons.
However, Romania’s government has offered its unwavering support to Ukraine since the invasion began.
We are here „to show our strong support and full solidarity with President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. This illegal Russian aggression must stop!” President Iohannis tweeted.
In Kyiv today with my European colleagues 🇩🇪 Chancellor @OlafScholz, 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron and 🇮🇹 PM Mario Draghi @Palazzo_Chigi to show our strong support and full solidarity with President @ZelenskyyUa and the Ukrainian people. This illegal Russian aggression must stop! pic.twitter.com/r5wKaGJm9b
— Klaus Iohannis (@KlausIohannis) June 16, 2022
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will host talks with the leaders at the Maryinsky Palace ahead of an EU summit on 23 and 24 June.
Leaders will hold a joint press conference followed by a private lunch.
France’s Macron will then do a walkabout in Kyiv before meeting French gendarmes who are assisting Ukrainian prosecutors investigating war crimes.
The French president has been on a tour of eastern Europe this week, stopping in Romania where he met Romanian leaders and French troops deployed to a Black Sea base to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.
On Tuesday, during a trip to Ukraine’s neighbours Romania and Moldova, Macron said a „message of support” must be sent to Ukraine before EU heads of state and government „have to make important decisions” at their Brussels meeting.
„We are in a moment where we need to send clear political signals — we, Europeans, we the European Union — toward Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said.
He then travelled to non-EU member Moldova where he offered French support. There are fears that Moldova could become involved in the war.
French president hopes Ukraine will win the war, but it still needs to negotiate with Russia
