'Welcome home,' Ursula von der Leyen to Zelenskyy as EU leaders hail Ukrainian President's arrival
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's tour of European capitals brought him to Brussels on Thursday to lobby EU leaders for jets and long-range weapons to bolster Kyiv's defences against the Russian invasion
Zelenskyy in Brussels. AFP
New Delhi: The leader of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen hailed the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Brussels, the capital of EU, ever since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
“Welcome home, welcome to the EU,” European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted above a picture of him shaking Zelenskyy’s hand, alongside European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen.
#UPDATE EU leaders on Thursday hailed the arrival of Ukrainian President Zelensky in Brussels for his first visit to the heart of the union since Russia’s invasion. pic.twitter.com/jOsXFgy6Mr
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 9, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tour of European capitals brought him to Brussels on Thursday to lobby EU leaders for jets and long-range weapons to bolster Kyiv’s defences against the Russian invasion, the AFP reported.
Ukraine had applied for EU membership in February last year and was granted candidate status in June.
Earlier this month the EU leader Ursula was in Kyiv for an EU summit. The visit was accompanied by a series of purges against Ukrainian officials involved in corruption cases in an effort by the Ukrainian government to show its commitment to the anti-corruption levels of the union.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during his visit to UK yesteray, left the country with a firm British commitment to train Ukranian fighter jet pilots on NATO-standard aircraft, along with an offer of longer-range missiles.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now been tasked with investigating which jets the UK might be able to supply to Ukraine, Downing Street announced — but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fell short of making actual promises on their supply, which his spokesman said would only ever be a “long-term” option.
This is Zelenskyy’s second visit outside Ukraine since the beginning of the war on 24 February 2022.
His first visit outside Ukraine since the war began was to the US in December last year where he managed to score an aid commitment worth $45 billion.
With inputs from agencies
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