The European leadership moves to kyiv and plans new sanctions against Russia

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Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, left Brussels yesterday joking about whether he was going to return dead or alive.

The reality is that

than ever before.

In the last one, a Russian projectile fell near the train in which Borrell was traveling.

EU officials took it as a warning from Moscow.

In this context of uncertainty comes this historic summit in which the president of the commission Ursula von der Leyen, on her fourth trip to Ukraine, has brought all her commissioners to kyiv to meet with the Ukrainian ministers, in a clear message of support and unity in full Russian invasion.

The meeting, regardless of the agenda,

full of starry flags next to the sky blue and sunflower yellow color of the Ukrainian banner.

They are the same colors that decorate the Maidan square and the nearby convention hall where the meeting is held, shielded by armed police and soldiers.

During the morning some conclusions from the meeting have been leaking: the first is that

trained in member countries.

From 15,000 it will go to 30,000, many of them crew members of tanks.

Together with those already being trained in the United Kingdom and the US, the number of soldiers trained in the West will exceed 100,000 in the coming months.

"Ukraine's allies are right to increase their military assistance.

But we cannot hope for that end without giving Ukraine the means to achieve it," said Josep Borrell.

At today's meeting, the European commissioners met with the Zelenski government ministers, while the Ukrainian president received Von der Leyen, as appreciated in the Ukrainian capital as former British Prime Minister

, a

in Ukraine.

On the table there is not much more to talk about weapons, since the decisions on the massive delivery of tanks have already been made.

, and they share an opinion with Joe Biden.

Another of the measures is

, but without touching in any case the components of the nuclear power plants.

"We will introduce an additional limit on the prices of Russian oil products, and by February 24, exactly one year after the start of the invasion, we want to have the tenth package of sanctions in force," von der Leyen said during a conference press with the Ukrainian president,

.

According to Von der Leyen, the existing sanctions "erode the economy" of Russia, estimating that the imposition of a maximum price of Russian oil cost Moscow "about 160 million euros a day".

For his part,

, that is, by fast track, "within two years".

It will not be so simple because, in reality, in Brussels they think that Ukraine is light years away from being able to standardize its laws with European ones in such a short time.

There is one aspect of particular concern: the fight against corruption.

If the EU plans to include Kiev in the EU,

, with corruption under control.

The latest police and judicial moves by the Ukrainian state, with the arrest of corrupt networks of high-ranking Kiev government officials, including even deputy ministers, are a gesture welcomed by the EU, but

and put it in place to that it permeates all administrations, something very difficult to do in times of peace, but almost impossible in times of war.

That issue and no other is what separates Ukraine from Brussels.

The European Commissioner for the Budget,

, assured that the accession process to the European Union "is a marathon, not a sprint", but stressed that

.

"The Commission will support Ukraine throughout the accession process. Despite the aggressor's continued ruthless attacks, we are seeing great momentum for reforms," ​​he noted.

"To support the reform process and increase Kiev's resilience,

euros, including 145 million euros in humanitarian assistance and 305 million euros in bilateral cooperation," he noted. .

Ukraine is convinced that Russia is preparing a major offensive and sets the date of February 24

, the first anniversary of the war, for its start.

Faced with this possible attack, Brussels wants to make it clear that its message does not end with this visit, but rather that Ukraine will enter the European club in its own right despite Moscow's attempts to bring it back under its yoke.

But it has not all been applause and pats on the back for the European leaders in kyiv.

The controversial parliamentarian

denounced the hypocrisy of Von der Leyen in a very harsh speech in the Eurochamber: "No long-range missiles, with insufficient sanctions, without using the funds embargoed from the Russian Central Bank in the reconstruction of Ukraine and without the possibility of ' fast track' in the Ukraine membership... Why has Von der Leyen traveled to Kiev?

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