The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, visited Kyiv on Thursday 9 May, Europe Day, to reiterate her institution’s support for Ukraine.
“The European Parliament will help Ukraine in any way possible to advance on all the necessary steps on its European path. We will remain as vocal as ever on Ukraine, as my visit today also demonstrates”, Ms Metsola stressed at a press conference with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. “We Europeans must strengthen our determination to support you. We must and will stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary”, she added.
Ms Metsola and Mr Zelenky spoke with one voice, particularly on Ukraine’s accession negotiations. “Accession negotiations should begin as soon as possible, and I am confident that the negotiating framework can be adopted by the EU Member States in June”, explained the European Parliament President. According to the Ukrainian President, his country has fulfilled “all the conditions necessary for the negotiating framework to be approved in June, as agreed, and for negotiations to begin effectively”.
Ms Metsola also supported Mr Zelensky’s request for more military support. “We are painfully aware, that Ukraine urgently needs more equipment and air defence systems to defend itself against the aggressor. We Europeans need to deliver. We need to take responsibility, intensify our support and deliver on our financial support”, warned the European Parliament President. “Ukraine needs additional and timely military support capable of disrupting Russia’s retaliation plan, the plan for its offensive this year”, said Mr Zelensky. On Monday 13 May, Russia continued its new offensive in the Kharkiv region.
Ms Metsola also said that she hoped the ‘Ukraine Peace Summit’ in Switzerland in mid-June would produce “real and practical” results. Mr Zelensky stressed that this summit “can and must be a real opportunity to restore and guarantee a just peace for Ukraine and the whole of Europe”.
On 9 May, the Office of the President of Ukraine announced that the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission had confirmed their attendance at the summit. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)