France, Germany, Italy, Romania back Ukraine's EU membership bid during crucial Kyiv visit

During their crucial visit to Kyiv on Thursday (June 16), the European leaders backed Ukraine's bid to be accepted as a candidate for the European Union membership. French President Emmanuel Macron told a joint press conference with Italian and German leaders that "all four of us support the status of immediate candidate for accession."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was present during the press conference, promised the nation was ready to put in the work to become a fully-fledged EU member. He said that amid Russia's invasion of the country, the Ukrainians have already proved themselves worthy of candidate status.

On Friday, the European Commission will meet to give its official opinion on Ukraine's formal bid for EU candidacy. The bid must be approved by all 27 member states to get finalised.

Apart from Macron, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in Ukraine by train in a show of support for the war-torn nation. They walked through the ruined buildings of the Ukrainian town of Irpin and Draghi even promised that Italy will help Ukraine build everything.

Macron praised Ukrainian "heroism" against Moscow's invasion. "It's here, among other places, that the Ukrainians stopped the Russian army descending onto Kyiv," the French leader said.

French, German and Italian leaders were later joined in Kyiv by Romania's President Klaus Iohannis. After that, they met Zelensky to discuss the current situation.

Zelensky ask for weapon supplies

In his statement, Zelensky said, "We are expecting new deliveries, above all heavy weapons, modern reactive artillery, anti-aircraft defence systems". He said that "every day of delayed or postponed decisions provides the possibility for the Russian military to kill Ukrainians."

On being asked about Macron's phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said that "it’s president Emmanuel Macron’s choice." He added, "I'm not sure there are leaders in the world today who could individually force Russia to stop the war."

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Kremlin reacts to European leaders' visit

Kremlin said that it hoped the leaders of France, Germany and Italy would discuss matters other than the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi should use their time with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to take a "realistic look at the state of affairs".

Kremlin also warned against new Western weapons supplies to Ukraine. Peskov said that such supplies would be "absolutely useless and will cause further damage to the country".

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