European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday she would respond next week to Ukraine's bid for EU membership, while Luhansk region governor Sergei Gaidai denied that separatist forces were besieging Ukrainian forces inside a factory in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

After a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital, during which she met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, von der Leyen added that today's discussions "will allow us to finalize our assessment by next week," referring to Ukraine's request for EU membership.

The European official stressed at a press conference in Kyiv that the Ukrainian authorities "have done a lot to nominate the country for EU membership, but there is more to do, especially in the fight against corruption."

The European Commission is supposed to give its opinion on Ukraine's request in the coming days, before EU leaders decide whether to grant Ukraine official candidate status at a summit to be held on June 23-24.

A few days ago, the Ukrainian president renewed his country's demand for accelerating Ukraine's inclusion in the European Union, saying during his address to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit that the Union needs to move from words to deeds, and Zelensky stressed the need to grant his country the status of a candidate for European Union membership and not leave it in a "gray area." .

Macron and Russia

In a related context, an official in the French presidency said on Friday that Paris is not ready to make concessions to Moscow and wants Kyiv to win the war against Russian forces, and to restore its territorial integrity.

This came at a time when Paris is seeking to allay concerns about its position on the Russian-Ukrainian war.

An official in the French presidency said that Paris is not ready to make concessions to Moscow and wants Kyiv to win the war against Russian forces.

French President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire from Ukraine and its eastern European allies after interviews published on Saturday included saying it was important to avoid insulting Russia so that there would be a diplomatic solution when the fighting was over.

On the other hand, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Russian-American relations have reached a critical point, against the backdrop of the economic and diplomatic war waged by Western countries against Russia due to a special military operation in Ukraine, he said.

The Russian ambassador in Washington explained that the bilateral political dialogue between Moscow and Washington has become paralyzed, due to the fault of the United States, as he put it.

In the same context, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said that Germany was "deliberately and systematically working to destroy relations with Russia in all areas."

Severodonetsk Front

In the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the governor of Lugansk region said that Russian forces have taken control of most of the strategic Severodonetsk regions after raging fighting in the city, but Ukraine still controls the nitrogen chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.

The governor of Luhansk denied allegations by separatists that between 300 and 400 Ukrainian fighters are trapped inside the factory, explaining that Ukrainian forces control an "industrial zone in Severodonetsk, and destroy the Russian army in the city."

A member of the Russian army takes up its position at one of the fighting fronts in Lugansk region, eastern Ukraine (European)

The Ukrainian official added that the Russian bombing of the Azot chemical plant caused a huge fire after the leakage of tons of oil.

The battle for the city of Severodonetsk and the destruction of its infrastructure recalls the weeks-long bombing of the southern port city of Mariupol, during which the city was reduced to rubble, before Russian forces seized it last month after the last Ukrainian defenders surrendered in their stronghold in the Azovstal steel complex.

Russian forces are trying to capture Severodonetsk as they advance further east, making it one of the bloodiest battles to date.

Neither side has won this battle, despite weeks of fighting that has left the city in ruins.

Ukraine has called on the West to expedite the delivery of heavy weapons to divert the course of the war with Russian forces, which it says possess at least 10 times the number of artillery pieces possessed by Ukrainian forces.

"As Ukrainian forces use their last stocks of Soviet-era weapons systems and munitions, they will need consistent Western support to transition to new ammunition supply chains and major artillery systems," the Institute for the Study of War said in a report on Friday.

In the event that Severodonetsk is captured, this will open the way for Moscow to another strategic city in the Donbass, Kramatorsk, which will constitute an important step in controlling the entire Donbass region, of which Russian and separatist forces control the bulk of it.

Kherson front

In the Kherson province in southern Ukraine, the Kherson City Council said that the Ukrainian forces are launching a counterattack against the positions of the Russian forces in the region, and in the direction of Kiselivka, Soldatsky and Oleksandryvka regions.

The spokesman for the Southern Operations Command of the Ukrainian Army, Vladislav Nazarov, said that the situation on the contact line with the Kherson province is very tense, and that the Russian forces are strengthening their defensive positions and trying to protect the water supply from Kherson to the Crimea.


In the same region, the pro-Moscow administration in Kherson today, Saturday, handed over Russian passports to a number of residents of this city occupied by Russian forces, according to Russian news agencies.

The official news agency "TASS" reported that 23 residents of Kherson received the first Russian passports during a ceremony, in a "simplified procedure" made possible by a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of last May.

Ukraine condemned the measure, saying it was a "blatant violation" of its territorial integrity.

It should be noted that Russia has launched, since late February, what it describes as a special military operation to disarm Ukraine and eliminate the "Nazis" in it, while Kyiv and its allies describe it as an unjustified aggression aimed at seizing territory.