The President of the European Commission promised kyiv on Saturday a response “next week” to Ukraine’s ambitions to apply for membership of the European Union. On the ground, the Russian offensive was intensifying in the east of the country.
“Today’s discussions will allow us to finalize our assessment” on whether Ukraine should be granted EU candidate status “by the end of next week”, said Ursula von der Leyen after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine is demanding a concrete “legal commitment” allowing it to obtain official EU candidate status as quickly as possible, but the Twenty-Seven are very divided on the question. And even if Ukraine achieves “candidate status”, it will start a process of negotiations and potential reforms that could take years, if not decades, before it is on the verge of joining the EU. .
“We want to support Ukraine on its European journey,” nevertheless assured Ms. von der Leyen on Saturday. “We want to look to the future. You have done a lot, but there is still a lot to do, to fight corruption for example.” The European leader’s visit comes amid escalating fighting in the east.
Russian passports handed over
In a sign of Moscow’s determination to get its hands on what the Kremlin considers Russian land, Russia on Saturday handed over its first passports to 23 residents of Kherson, a large city in southern Ukraine occupied and administratively managed by authorities. prorussians, according to the official Russian agency TASS.
On Friday, Mr Zelensky accused Russia of wanting to “devastate every city in Donbass, every one, without exaggeration”. “The Ukrainian military is doing everything to stop the attacks of the occupiers, as much as possible with as many heavy weapons and modern artillery” as Ukraine has, “everything we asked and we continue to ask our partners”, he launched as the battle for the key city of Severodonetsk and its twin Lysytchansk appears to be increasingly violent.
Artillery duel
On the front, an artillery duel opposed the two camps on Saturday, according to an AFP photographer present in Lyssytchansk. Taking Severodonetsk would open the road to another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow, an important step to conquer the entire Donbass basin, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
In Lysytchansk, residents explained to AFP the difficult choice they face: to stay despite the bombardments, or to flee and abandon their homes.
In Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky confirmed the death of a Czech national in eastern Ukraine. According to a Czech journalist, she is a voluntary fighter. The head of the Ukrainian presidential administration Andriï Yermak announced for his part the death of a military journalist without giving details on the circumstances of the death of the one who was responsible for a recruitment program and Ukrainian military television.
“Out of Ammo”
For several days, fighting has also been intense in the Mykolaiv region, neighboring the port city of Odessa, in southern Ukraine. “The Russians are targeting us with heavy artillery, whether in the city or in the villages,” Vitali Kim, governor of this region, told AFP on Friday.
“The Russian army is more powerful, they have a lot of artillery and ammunition. Right now it’s an artillery war… and we’re running out of ammunition,” he added. “Help from Europe and the United States is very, very important because we need ammunition to defend our country.”
The Ukrainians keep asking their Western allies for new, more powerful weapons. The delivery of multiple rocket launcher systems, including Himars with a range of about 80 km, slightly greater than Russian systems, was announced by Washington and London.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp