During a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday, von der Leyen said talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “will allow us to complete our assessment by the end of next week” – the first time the bloc gives publicly a sense of time. Here’s what happened overnight.
1. EU leader von der Leyen visits Kyiv
Volodymyr Zelensky pushed for rapid EU membership to reduce Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability, which has been brutally exposed by the Russian invasion. European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen – who has sided with the Ukrainian president during her second visit to Kyiv since the start of the war – has made no promises, saying further reforms are needed. Mr Zelensky warned it was a “crucial moment” for his country and the EU. “Russia wants to destroy European unity, it wants to leave Europe divided and it wants to leave it weak. The whole of Europe is a target for Russia. Ukraine is only the first stage of this aggression,” he said. Officials and leaders of the bloc warn that, even with the candidacy status, EU membership can take years or even decades. Despite the reservations of some Member States, EU leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidacy status at the June 23-24 summit, but on strict terms.
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Both sides are likely to have a large number of losses
In a video speech late Saturday, Volodomyr Zelensky said that while “fierce street fighting continues in Severodonetsk”, the Ukrainian army is gradually liberating territory further west in the Kherson region and has had some success in Zaporizhzhia. Mr Zelensky had earlier insisted that his country would prevail in its nearly four-month war with Russia, which has focused on an artillery grinding battle over Severodonetsk. The regional governor, Serhiy Gadai, said a claim that the Azot plant in Luhansk province had been shut down was “a lie”: “Our forces are holding a Severodonetsk industrial zone and destroying the Russian army in the city.” He said earlier that the Russian bombing of the plant had ignited a large fire following a spill of tons of oil. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Facebook post that Ukrainian forces repulsed a Russian attack on three small towns northwest of Slovyansk in Donetsk Oblast, while fighting continued in a fourth town in the eastern part of the city. . “Intense street-to-street fighting is ongoing and both sides are likely to have heavy casualties,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Twitter. Ukraine’s attorney general’s office said it had learned of the deaths of 24 other children in Mariupol, the southeastern port that was besieged for weeks before being captured by Russian forces in mid-May.
3. Zelensky: Serious food crisis and famine will lead to political chaos
Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Summit in Singapore on Saturday to stress the dangers of a food crisis posed by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. He warned of an “acute and severe food crisis and famine”, adding that “food shortages will inevitably lead to political chaos” – all of this “the immediate consequence of the Russian state’s actions”. Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday reported reports of Russians loading trucks with Ukrainian wheat and transporting it to Russian-controlled areas. Prior to the war, Russia and Ukraine produced 30 percent of the world’s grain supply, but grain has stuck in Ukrainian ports and Western sanctions have disrupted exports from Russia. Mr Zelensky urged international pressure to end the blockade, speaking to representatives of the summit, including Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who reiterated Beijing’s position on the crisis on Sunday. “China has never provided material support to Russia over the Ukraine crisis,” he said, adding that they supported the peace talks and hoped that “NATO would hold talks with Russia.” Ukraine’s Western allies have warned China, which has not yet condemned the Russian invasion, not to offer any form of support to Moscow.
4. Moscow invasion “preview of a possible world of chaos”
German Chancellor Olaf Soltz will travel to Kyiv with French President Emanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi before the G7 summit in late June, a German newspaper reported.
