News Europe Zelensky: EU summit in kyiv proof that we will not bow down

Zelensky: EU summit in kyiv proof that we will not bow down

Ukraine and the European Union close ranks this Friday in kyiv at a summit that will discuss, among other issues, support against the Russian invasion and the process of joining the community club as a candidate country.

“We will support you every step of your way towards the EU”said the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a tweet.

Michel participates in the summit together with the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski; the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.

Von der Leyen and Borrell arrived in kyiv on Thursday to attend the first meeting between members of the European Commission and the Ukrainian Government, in which the Community Executive declared that it will maintain its support “as long as necessary” and offered greater integration with the EU.

First EU-Ukraine summit since the war began

This Friday’s summit is the twenty-fourth between the two parties, but the first they have held since the start of the war on February 24, 2022 and since the European Council granted Ukraine the status of candidate country to enter the EU. .

The main topics they will address will be Ukraine’s European trajectory and the accession process, the EU’s response to Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine’s initiatives for peace and accountability, reconstruction cooperation in the fields of energy and connectivity, and global food security.

The leaders are expected to issue a joint statement after the summit.

Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022 and was granted candidate country status in June of the same year.

The European Commission will update its journey in the spring, but it will not be until autumn when it issues its annual report on the progress of the countries that opt ​​to enter the community club.

EU military support for Ukraine is estimated at around €12 billion

As regards military support, the EU has invested €3.6 billion under the European Peace Support Fund to finance part of the armaments that Member States are providing to Ukraine, and has launched a mission to training of 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers, including the personnel who will operate the modern tanks that will soon be delivered.

In total, overall EU military support for Ukraine is estimated at around €12 billion.

To put pressure on Russia and cut off its sources of funding for the war, the EU has already approved nine rounds of sanctions and prepares the tenth for the first anniversary of the beginning of the conflict.

As regards the financial response, the overall aid to Ukraine promised so far by the EU and the Member States amounts to almost €50 billion.

In addition, since last March, the EU activated the directive on temporary protection, an emergency mechanism that allows displaced persons to enjoy harmonized rights throughout the Union, and today four million Ukrainians benefit from it.

At the summit they will also discuss how Russia’s attacks on crops and transport infrastructure have hampered Ukraine’s ability to export its agri-food production, further aggravating the global food crisis.

The EU launched the so-called “solidarity corridors” to be able to get more than 23 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products out of the country between last May and December.

Source: Euronews Español

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