- Macron and the German, Italian and Romanian leaders traveled to Kyiv on Thursday.
- The visit came after Macron was criticized in Ukraine for saying Putin should not be humiliated.
- European leaders expressed their support for Ukraine’s European ambitions during the visit.
French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Kyiv on Thursday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, traveling to Ukraine at a critical time in the war with Russia. It was one of the highest-profile visits by EU leaders to the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in late February.
“We are here, focused, and we are about to meet with President Zelenskyy now to visit a war site where massacres have been committed, and then to conduct planned conversations with President Zelenskyy,” Macron said in comments. to journalists in Kyiv, by Politico.
EU leaders posed for photos with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, looking stiff in their suits alongside him in his now-iconic olive-green t-shirt and sneakers.
—Anelise Borges (@AnneliseBorges) June 16, 2022
—Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) June 16, 2022
The visit came as Ukraine struggles to join the EU, and Ukraine begs the West for more military aid amid heavy fighting in the eastern Donbass region. Air raid sirens went off shortly after they arrived, according to multiple reports.
The trip also came as questions are being raised about Western unity and resolve. In recent months, Macron has repeatedly come under heavy criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be humiliated in Ukraine, which Kyiv interpreted as a call to make concessions to Moscow. Macron tried to prevent Russia from invading in the weeks leading up to the French presidential election and continued his direct calls with Putin.
Referring to the war in Ukraine during a May 9 speech, Macron warned Europe to “never give in to the temptation of humiliation.”
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said, “We will not help Putin save face by paying with our territory. That would be unfair.”
And in an interview with French media earlier this month, Macron said: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means.”
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s top diplomat, lambasted the French president for the remarks, tweeting that “calls to avoid Russia’s humiliation can only humiliate France and all other countries that call on it.” Kuleba was present on Thursday when Zelenskyy met with EU leaders.
—KyivPost (@KyivPost) June 16, 2022
Macron’s visit took place in rather delicate circumstances, with ties between France and Ukraine somewhat fragile. Germany has also come under criticism in recent weeks over the speed of arms deliveries to Ukraine. Smoothing out those ruffles was probably one of the many purposes of the symbolic and historical journey.
European leaders expressed their strong support for Ukraine’s EU membership during their visit.
“All four of us support immediate candidate status for membership,” Macron told reporters, according to Politico. Meanwhile, Scholz said that “Germany is in favor of a positive decision in favor of Ukraine”, adding that “Ukraine belongs to the European family”.
The European Commission is expected to make a recommendation on whether to grant Ukraine EU candidate status in the coming days, which would be just one step in a long process of joining the bloc.
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