Three top EU politicians visit Kyiv

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 16 Jun 2022 by Alex Teddy

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On June 16 the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany and the Prime Minister of Italy visited Kyiv by train. It is the first time any of them visited Ukraine since the war began. The French President intends to visit the site of an alleged Russian atrocity. Ukraine is deeply disappointed that Germany provides so few arms and that France is buying so much Russian gas still. These three EU states have called for peace talks with Russia. That would entail Ukraine ceding land which a large majority of Ukrainians refuse to do.  Ukraine is seeking EU candidate status. A request for actual Ukrainian EU membership was rejected by the EU in March 2022.  The President of Romania is due to arrive in Kyiv later on June 16. Romania is vital to Ukraine as it is one of the four EU states bordering Ukraine. It is the second largest recipient of Ukrainian refugees after Poland. President Zelensky is exhorting Western countries to supply more weapons. Ukraine is still fighting in Severodonetsk. Ukraine is suffering 100 combat deaths a day. How long can this be sustained? US and British troops have been training Ukrainians on HIMARS (multiple rocket launch systems on trucks) since June 1. Training takes about 3 weeks. Quite soon Ukraine should have HIMARS. But the US and UK might provide too few to make a differences.