EU-Ukraine summit: European leaders in show of force in kyiv

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference in kyiv on February 2, 2023. AP - Efrem Lukatsky

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mins

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Thursday from kyiv that the EU is planning new sanctions against Russia.

And this while an EU-Ukraine summit is being held this Friday, February 3 in the Ukrainian capital.

Advertising

Read more

We will continue to raise the pressure even higher

 .”

Upon her arrival in kyiv, and as rumors of a new major Russian offensive circulate more and more, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wanted to be inflexible with regard to Moscow.

“ 

By February 24, exactly one year after the start of the invasion, we aim to put in place the tenth sanctions package

,” she announced at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president. Volodymyr Zelensky.

Today, Russia is paying a heavy price, because our sanctions are eroding its economy, setting it back a generation

 ," she said, while Brussels has been implementing for almost a year a rain sanctions to limit Moscow's revenue to support its invasion.

Among them, one of the most striking measures is

the capping of the price of Russian oil

for export at 60 dollars.

According to Ursula von der Leyen, this limitation set in early December by the European Union, the G7 and Australia, “ 

already costs Russia around 160 million euros per day

 ”.

In early December, the EU also implemented an embargo on Russian crude oil transported by sea.

This will extend from Sunday to the purchase of Russian refined petroleum products and the G7 countries will also cap the price of these products.

Just before the declarations of the President of the European Commission, the European Council announced the release of military aid of 500 million euros in favor of kyiv, as well as 45 million for training missions.

This brings the total of European aid since the beginning of the conflict to 60 billion euros.

We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and as long as it is necessary

 ," said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. 

The issue of membership on the summit menu

These announcements were made as Kyiv hosts a summit of European and Ukrainian leaders on Friday.

The 27 heads of state and government will be represented by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission and the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell who will meet the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

"

A strong gesture

," says Sylvain Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute.

“ 

It's the first time, I believe, that in the history of European construction, a whole delegation of European commissioners has traveled to a country at war to give it this signal.

 »

This summit will notably discuss Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

Poland and the Baltic countries, very invested in military aid to their neighbor at war, are among those who believe that kyiv's application for membership must be examined as quickly as possible.

But a significant number of large Member States do not want to send too encouraging a message.

Last year, Emmanuel Macron said the process could take "

decades

".

The Ukrainian authorities have a completely different timetable in mind: the head of diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba is talking about starting pre-accession negotiations by the end of this year.

In June, the European Commission recommended granting candidate status, conditional on Ukraine undertaking a series of legislative and policy reforms.

This Thursday, in Kiev, Ursula von der Leyen welcomed

recent anti-corruption efforts

on this point .

"

The 27 sometimes find that the Commission has given too many signs of encouragement for rapid accession and wish to calm things down

", explains an observer.

The idea of ​​a gradual membership is now on the table.

It would allow Ukraine to have access to European programs and to benefit from European financing during the negotiations.

A way to temporize without discouraging the Ukrainians.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

  • Ukraine

  • European Union

  • Russia