At the end of her visit to Kyiv, Ursula von der Leyen returns to the beginning.

She walks across the Maidan, with a representative of the Embassy of the European Union in Ukraine next to her.

She explains to the President of the European Commission how the capital came into being.

Von der Leyen's visit to Ukraine was less about the past than about the future.

After all, not only the future of Ukraine depends on how things develop in the country in the coming weeks, but also that of Europe.

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Brussels wants to decide at the end of June whether to grant candidate status to Ukraine.

The country has been looking for European partnership for a long time, and since this year it has also wanted to become an official member.

On February 28, 2022, four days after the start of the Russian all-out attack on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted the application for membership.

Von der Leyen took it kindly at the time and promised to take care of it quickly.

"The seventh package of sanctions must be even stronger"

On Saturday she emphasized several times that Ukraine had made enormous progress in recent years.

"We tend to forget that." One example is the law passed in September against oligarchs.

At the same time, she also warns that there is still a need for action in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

"More needs to be done, but Ukraine is working on it," she said in a joint press conference with Zelenskyy. 

The two sat together for a good hour at noon in the presidential administration.

It was about the accession process and the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The EU wants to support Ukraine in this, but calls for a transparent procedure for distributing funds.

The President looked tired and tense.

He thanked Brussels for the support, but also warned that the pressure on Russia had to be increased further.

"The seventh package of sanctions must be even stronger." He demanded that the sanctions in the future affect all banks, especially Gazprom Bank.

In addition, Europe should stop using energy sources from Russia.

In his opinion, Ukraine could also supply the EU with energy. 

According to von der Leyen, a subsequent working meeting with Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal also dealt with other details of the cooperation.

The question of grain exports must be clarified urgently.

22 million tons of grain are stored in Ukrainian silos.

Up to 45 million tons could be added after this year's harvest season.

However, at the moment Ukraine only manages to export a little over a million tons.

In the afternoon von der Leyen visited a hospital in Kyiv where war invalids are treated.

The medical student was visibly touched by the injuries caused by shrapnel, for example.

"You have to pull yourself together not to cry." All in all, she was impressed by the resilience of the Ukrainians, the government, the parliament and the administration, which also function well in a war.

Scholz is critical of Ukraine's rapid accession

The German politician left open whether all of this would be enough for the Commission to recommend that the 27 member states give Ukraine candidate status next week.

Last week Ukrainian media reported that three EU countries are opposed to membership.

It is not clear who it is exactly.

However, it should be neither Eastern European countries nor the Baltic States.

The European Council meets at the end of June to decide on the final status.

A country can remain a candidate for decades, as the example of Turkey shows.

Some Ukrainians are also skeptical: "Admitting the country to the EU in its current state is like giving an invalid membership in a sports club," said one on the fringes of the visit from Brussels. 

For von der Leyen, it was the second visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian attack.

However, Kyiv is still waiting for the first visit of another German politician - Olaf Scholz.

The Chancellor called on the European Union to start accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania.

It is important to give the process a new dynamic, Scholz said on Saturday during a visit to North Macedonia's capital Skopje.

He will work to ensure that the next step is taken.

Scholz is critical of Ukraine's rapid accession.

For Ukraine, a rejection of candidate status would be a major setback, since many Ukrainians have the feeling that they are also defending Europe's freedom.

In Kyiv, street musicians and bright sunshine on Saturday gave the deceptive feeling of a peaceful summer's day.

But a good hour after von der Leyen's departure, an air raid alarm sounds.

A reminder that the war isn't over yet.