Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and High Commissioner Josep Borrell will visit the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this week, in a show of support to Ukraine and its President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This will be the first official visit to Ukraine by the head of the EU executive since the Russian invasion of the country began on 24 February this year. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited Kyiv last week, while prime ministers of Slovenia, Czech Republic and Poland – Janez Janša, Petr Fiala and Mateusz Morawiecki – visited on 15 March.
As fighting around Kyiv is slowing down, most of the Russian troops surrounding the capital having retreated towards Russia and Belarus, the seat of Ukrainian government is now being spared from everyday artillery fire, though it could still be in range of potential rocket attacks fired off from within Belarus territory.
The exact date and time of von der Leyen and Borrell’s visit remains unclear for now, with EU spokesman Eric Mamer revealing only that the two top EC leaders will meet with Zelenskyy this week, and that the meeting will take place “prior to the pledging event #StandUpForUkraine”, scheduled for Saturday in Warsaw.
Their visit was first announced on Twitter by Slovenian PM Janša on Monday, though the media were unable to get any official confirmation before Tuesday, when Mamer Tweeted von der Leyen’s plans.
Von der Leyen and Borrell’s visit comes as images of civilians in mass graves and bodies left strewn on the streets of villages and towns held by russian forces are on the pages of all western media, with the apparent war crime prompting a new wave of international condemnation of Russian invasion, and kickstarting a new round of sanctions against Russia and its key figures.
