Upon arrival in the morning, the delegation of more than a dozen members from the EU’s executive branch held a meeting with the Ukrainian government.
The EU council announced that it would provide Ukraine with another 500 million euros ($542 million) for the seventh tranche of military aid, along with an additional 45 million euros ($49 million) for the training of Ukrainian troops.
EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, who visited the Ukrainian capital with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel, announced that the bloc would double the number of Ukrainian soldiers to be trained this year to 30,000.
Borrell also said the EU would provide 25 million euros ($27.5 million) to help Ukraine demine liberated areas. Ukraine is said to be the most mined country in the world.
“Europe stood united with Ukraine from day one. And will still stand with you to win and rebuild,” Borrell said.
Von der Leyen, visiting Kyiv for the fourth time since the February invasion, said the EU wants the fresh sanctions against Russia to be ready by Feb. 24 – on the all-out war’s first anniversary. She said the 10th round of sanctions aims to inflict more pain on Russian petroleum products, and the price cap would be coordinated with the G7.
The EU has gradually stepped up its military assistance for Ukraine over the course of Russia’s nearly year-long full-scale invasion.
Last month, many EU member states made historic promises on military aid for Ukraine, vowing to send Western-made tanks for the first time. Borrel said that the bloc has allocated about 50 billion euros in aid for the country – a fifth of which was in the military sector.
“We are here together to show that the EU stands by Ukraine as firmly as ever,” von der Leyen said upon her arrival.
However, Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU soon are set to be dashed at the long-anticipated EU-Ukraine Summit on Feb. 3.
Russia continues to wage its deadly assaults in the east and south of the country, and the EU has said that Ukraine needs to establish a credible track record to curb corruption in the country. Ukraine is also behind on judicial reforms, a deep-rooted issue that remains in the shadow of the war.
Ukraine’s EU aspirations
While the EU has admired Ukraine’s resistance against the brutal Russian invasion and praised its efforts to curb corruption in the country over the past few weeks, EU is unlikely to commit to Kyiv’s swift accession to the bloc, news outlet Euractiv reported.
The upcoming Feb. 3 EU-Ukraine Summit, the first of its kind to be held in an active war zone, is about “managing expectations” for Ukraine’s possible EU membership, and the member states have argued about the positive wording of the prospective when preparing the final draft of the summit communique, Euractiv reported, citing its unnamed sources.
Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022, a few days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. It obtained its candidate status unusually early, in June, but EU officials have cast a long way for Ukraine to be admitted into the bloc. Among other countries, Turkey has been waiting in line since it got its candidacy in 1999.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned in May 2022 that it might be “decades” before Ukraine gets its long-dreamed EU accession.
Nevertheless, Ukraine remains optimistic. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal recently said that he expected Ukraine to join the EU “within two years.” Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak predicted that it could happen almost immediately after the war in Ukraine ended.
