Top EU officials visit Ukraine in show of solidarity

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Top EU officials visit Ukraine in show of solidarity

********* Council president Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas, the ********* Union’s foreign policy chief, have arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, using the first day in their new roles to send a message of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Their visit comes as Ukraine struggles to fend off a grinding Russian offensive and faces the uncertainty of US policy toward it when Donald Trump takes office next month.

“From day one of the war, the EU has stood by the side of Ukraine,” Costa posted on X alongside an image of himself, Kallas and EU enlargement chief Marta Kos arriving via train.

“From day one of our mandate, we are reaffirming our unwavering support to the Ukrainian people.”

Both Kallas and Costa have been strong supporters of Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

However, neither can make specific pledges of further aid, requiring the support of the EU’s member countries.

The EU says its institutions and member countries have made available $US133 billion ($A204 billion) in Ukraine aid since the start of the war but future support ******** uncertain especially if Trump reduces US support.

Trump has criticised the scale of military aid for Ukraine and has said he will seek a swift end to the war but without specifying exactly how.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday there was still time for the ******* States to convince “sceptics” in Europe that Ukraine should be invited to join the NATO military alliance.

He told a news conference in Kyiv that any invitation to join the alliance must apply to all of Ukraine’s territory but accepted that NATO’s defence umbrella could not apply to the occupied parts of Ukraine with the war ongoing.

On the battlefield, Russian troops are capturing village after village in a drive to eventually seize the industrial Donbas region while Russian air strikes are targeting Ukraine’s hobbled energy grid as winter sets in.

“In my first visit since taking up office, my message is clear: the ********* Union wants Ukraine to win this war,” Kallas wrote on X.

“We will do whatever it takes for that.”

As prime minister of Estonia, which borders Russia, Kallas emerged as one of the most vociferous critics of Russia.

Russia this year put her on a wanted list for destroying *******-era monuments.

Costa, a former prime minister of Portugal, is tasked with co-ordinating the work of the ********* Union’s national leaders and chairing their summits as president of the ********* Council.

At a ceremony in Brussels on Friday, he said everyone was yearning for peace after more than 1000 days of the Ukraine-Russia war, “especially the embattled and heroic Ukrainian people”.

“Peace cannot mean capitulation. Peace must not reward the aggressor,” he added.

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