Charles Michel is in Kiev: "Heart of a free and democratic Europe"

"Today in Kiev there is a great friend of Ukraine, the President of the European Council

".

The Ukrainian president,

, writes on

, reporting that during the meeting with Michel "the sanctions against Russia, the defense and financial support of our State and the answers to the questionnaire on compliance with EU criteria were discussed".

Finally, Zelensky thanked the President of the European Council "for a meaningful meeting and for his solidarity with the Ukrainian people".

During the press conference Zelensky then said: "We ask Europe to include the

in the sixth package of sanctions, otherwise it will be an empty measure".

"We are grateful to the EU for the five sanctions packages already approved but in our opinion they are not enough to stop the financing of Vladimir Putin's war," he added, clarifying that gas will also have to be sanctioned at some point.

"I have already said: sooner or later we will also hit Russian oil and gas", said Michel, adding that "we are working for our independence from fossil fuels in general and from Russian ones in particular".

As for the reconstruction of the country "I can assure you that

", said Michel during the press point.

"Today we discussed strategic, interesting, concrete and operational ideas to speed up the process and I am optimistic that in the coming days and weeks we will be able to define the exact nature of the support needed to succeed in the reconstruction and the investments needed for the infrastructures and the different sectors" .

The visit of the President of the European Council takes place as Ukraine faces a new military offensive by Russia in the east of the country, especially in Mariupol. 

Michel arrived this morning by train in Kiev, "the heart of a free and democratic Europe".

This was announced by Michel himself on

, posting a photograph taken on the platform of a station in the capital, where he was welcomed by the minister for European integration,

. 

In a subsequent tweet, the president of the European Council then wrote: "In Borodyanka. Like Bucha and too many other cities in Ukraine. History will not forget the war crimes that have been committed here. There can be no peace without justice".

Borodyanka is a settlement near Bucha, a few kilometers from the capital, where civilians have been victims of a

that the Ukrainian authorities attribute to the Russian occupation troops.