On the eve of the anniversary of the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine against the backdrop of increasingly noticeable failures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the line of contact, which became wake-up calls for Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky launched a general diplomatic offensive in the European theater.
Started at the end of last week in Kiev, at the 24th EU-Ukraine summit, which was decided to be held not in Brussels, but in the Ukrainian capital, the offensive of Vladimir Zelensky (artist, president and supreme commander) continued in European capitals - in London, Paris and Brussels.
That is, at those points on the map of the European continent where key decisions are made on how to confront Russia and what to do next with Ukraine.
It must be admitted that all these events should have become an illustration of a new phase of rapprochement between the country of the “Euromaidan” and Europe, which continues despite the increasingly vague prospects for European integration of Ukraine.
Considering that a year after the start of the Russian special operation, the future statehood of Ukraine was in question, this circumstance, it would seem, should have made any discussion of the prospects for the country's entry into the European Union a shaking air.
How can you build roadmaps for EU accession and integrate "I don't know what".
However, no one seems to have bothered with this issue.
If you know how to do this, then it is quite possible to trade air.
How to do this was demonstrated in the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv by the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“The day Ukraine became a candidate was a new beginning for Ukraine, and it was also a new beginning for the EU,” Ursula von der Leyen solemnly declared.
“Ukraine is the EU, the EU is Ukraine.
The European Union is with you today and will be with you and your people tomorrow,” continued Charles Michel.
It sounded spectacular: the message of European officials was that in a broad sense, Ukraine is already in Europe, has already reached for those stars that are depicted on the EU flag.
And yet it wasn't quite the same.
Rather, it was not at all what they were waiting for in Kyiv.
“Our goal is absolutely clear - to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union.
We will not lose a single day in our work to bring Ukraine and the EU closer together,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a press conference.
Meanwhile, no agreements on negotiations on EU membership have been reached.
This is not what European officials came here for.
They went to promise everything and nothing, demonstrating a win-win position in terms of PR: as soon as - so immediately.
In this situation, immediately after the EU-Ukraine summit, Vladimir Zelensky went on his European tour - the first since the start of the Russian special operation.
The discussion on Ukraine's proposed membership of the EU, which began in Kyiv, continued in Brussels with the same actors and exactly the same result.
“Welcome home, welcome to the EU,” Charles Michel greeted Volodymyr Zelenskyy (thus, a few days after Kyiv, they met again, and now the chairman of the European Council was the host of the meeting).
All the same line - clear, but elusive, as it was in the Ukrainian capital - was bent by Ursula von der Leyen.
According to her, "Ukraine is advancing on the path to the EU at an impressive pace," but "between the present moment and this bright future, the road is still not easy."
What was left for Volodymyr Zelensky to do in this situation?
Continue to tease caring and polite European politicians, but avoiding the specifics, to put pressure on them with your requests, to keep them on their toes.
“Ukraine will be a member of the EU,” he said, speaking in the European Parliament, where they could not disagree with this: someday the time will come, and in fact Ukraine will become a member of a large European family.
The main thing is to believe in the goal.
Meanwhile, another cross-cutting topic of Volodymyr Zelensky’s European tour was the issue of intensifying arms supplies to Kyiv, during the discussion of which the word “fighters” was most often heard these days.
The insistent demand of the Ukrainian leader - give us combat aircraft - was already heard in London, which became the first point of his European tour.
So, speaking to members of the British Parliament, Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly recalled aviation so that everything would become clear to everyone.
“In Britain, the king is an air force pilot.
Today in Ukraine, every air force pilot is a king,” he used one homemade preparation, followed by a second one: at Zelensky’s signal, the helmet of “one of the best Ukrainian pilots” was brought onto the stage.
“We have freedom, give us wings to protect it,” Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to British politicians.
Recall that last year Kyiv asked its Western partners for F-16 fighters, but since then the issue has not moved forward.
Until recently, the Ukrainian request was politely declined, recalling the risks of escalation of equipment unfamiliar to Ukrainian pilots and maintenance problems.
The main snag, however, was something else: the West understands that the supply of combat aircraft to Kyiv will inevitably lead to a qualitatively new stage of confrontation with Russia, fraught with unpredictable consequences.
It is no coincidence that during Zelensky’s trip, the Russian side made it clear that the discussion of the issue of supplying military aircraft to Kyiv indicates “the growing involvement of Great Britain, Germany, and France in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”
According to Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, "the line between indirect and direct involvement" of European countries in hostilities is gradually disappearing.
In this situation, while in London, Volodymyr Zelensky made every conceivable and unthinkable effort to achieve a breakthrough on the issue of fighters, and at some point it might seem that he was close to his cherished goal.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised that the training of Ukrainian pilots would begin this spring, and instructed Defense Minister Ben Wallace to explore the possibility of supplying military aircraft to Kyiv.
However, immediately after that, London began to win back the situation.
Fighters fly fast, but decisions on them are made slowly.
Kyiv's hopes to receive combat aircraft as soon as possible were buried by none other than Ben Wallace.
He clarified that the announced training of Ukrainian pilots, which should begin in the spring, may end "after the end of the conflict."
As for sending Typhoon planes to Kyiv, the decision of the British side alone will not be enough.
The fact is that Typhoon is not a purely British project, and therefore London will need to coordinate on this issue with the allies.
After London, the issue of supplying Western military aviation to Kiev surfaced already at the talks in Paris, which became the second point of Zelensky's European tour, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
And, finally, in Brussels, although not so active, rather tangentially, they also talked about fighters.
Again, nothing concrete - the aircraft theme during Zelensky's European tour picked up acceleration, but did not take off.
In this situation, everyone was surprised by the post of the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, who wrote on the social network that the issue with the fighters was “resolved”.
It was a mega sensation, but it was "Wishlist" or fake news.
Since everything was exactly the opposite, the question of fighters was not exactly resolved.
Considering that his statement caused confusion, Andriy Yermak was forced to edit his own message.
Here is what its final version looks like: “The issue with long-range weapons and fighter jets for Ukraine seems to be resolved.
Details will be announced later."
In general, as with Ukraine's membership in the EU, in the issue of fighters everything will be decided as soon as possible.
On the whole, the Euro-Ukrainian marathon of smiles, handshakes, hugs, vows of allegiance to each other, which started in Kiev, continued in London and Paris and finished in Brussels, ended the same way as it began.
For Kyiv, it was a brightly colored but empty European pill - a placebo, which is sometimes given to a patient to swallow and believe in his recovery.
Well, let them believe.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.