EU vows more support to Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key peace demand that Western allies stop providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine is quietly being ignored by the European Union.
As US-led talks with Russia and Ukraine progress, without the Europeans at the table, the 27-nation bloc is pressing ahead with a steel “porcupine strategy” aimed at building the Ukrainian armed forces, and the country’s defence industry, into an even more formidable opponent.
At an European Union (EU) summit on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it’s “central” that Ukraine should remain an independent democratic nation that can continue its journey toward EU membership and “that it also has a strong army of its own after a peace agreement.”
In a defence blueprint unveiled on Wednesday, the European Commission set out how it plans to meet Ukraine’s security needs, with EU money available to help bolster its defence industry, which produces arms and ammunition more cheaply and closer to the battlefield.
Ukraine struck a major Russian strategic bomber airfield on Thursday with drones, triggering a huge blast and fire about 700 km from the front lines of the war, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
The base in Engels, which dates back to Soviet times, hosts Russia’s Tupolev Tu-160 nuclear-capable heavy strategic bombers, known unofficially as White Swans.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian experts would be present at upcoming talks involving the United States and Russia, but will not be in the same room as Russia, as a diplomatic push to end the war intensifies.
Russian and US experts are due to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea at talks on a possible peace settlement in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the Kremlin said.
“There will be technical teams present there,” Zelenskyy said during a visit to Norway. “I understand that the structure is the following: there will be a meeting of Ukraine and America and then some shuttle diplomacy, as our American colleagues said, America with Russia,” he told a press conference with Norway's premier.
Zelenskyy wants EU to fund artillery
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged EU allies on Thursday to approve a package of at least 5 billion euro for artillery purchases and called on continued pressure on Russia. Addressing the EU summit by video, Zelenskyy also said it was “simply anti-European when one person blocks decisions that are important for the entire continent”, referring to Hungary’s PM Victor Orban’s opposition to EU statements in support Ukraine.
