3 EU prime ministers visit Kyiv as Russian attacks intensify – Times of India – India Times English News

Warsaw: The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia traveled to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and met President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in support of Ukraine, even as the bombing by Russian forces moved closer to the center. Faridabad.
Despite concerns within the EU about the security risks of traveling within the war zone, the three leaders went ahead with the after-hours train journey.
“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here that freedom fights a world of tyranny. It is here that the future of all of us hangs in the balance,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Twitter .
The long visit from Poland to Kyiv by Moravicki, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Jarosz Kaczyski and Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala and Slovenia’s Janez Jana sent the message that much of Ukraine is still in Ukrainian hands.
But underlining the deteriorating security situation in Kyiv, several attacks were again carried out in a residential area of ​​the city on Tuesday.
Zelensky posted on Facebook a video of him sitting around a table with leaders telling him about the developments of the war. After the meeting, he said that he was sure that “with such friends” Ukraine would be able to defeat Russia.
“And most importantly, we have full confidence in the leaders of these countries and therefore, when we talk about security guarantees, our future in the EU, or sanctions policy, we know 100% that we What we’re discussing will really lead to this positive goal for our country, for our security and for our future,” Zelensky said.
Fiala said the main purpose of the visit was to let Ukraine know it was not alone.
Fiala said, “We know you’re fighting for your life… but we also know that you’re fighting for our lives, our freedom.” “Perhaps the main goal of our journey, the main message of our mission, is to say that you are not alone. Our countries stand with you. Europe stands with you.”
Central European leaders said they were on a mission to the European Union. But officials in the 27-nation bloc insisted that all three had traveled independently.
All three countries were once part of the communist bloc and now belong to both the European Union and NATO.
Jansa saw the visit as a way to send the message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to one day be accepted into the European Union. Two weeks ago, Zelensky made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament on the same subject.
“We are also fighting to become an equal member of Europe,” Zelensky told EU lawmakers on March 1. “I believe we are showing everyone what we are today.”
Jansa said the war has awakened Europeans to consider that the bloc represents fundamental ideas that are in danger _ and which Ukrainians are defending with their lives.
Right-wing populist Jansa tweeted, “Thank you for not only saving our homeland and Europe as a region, but for protecting European values ​​and our way of life. Your fight is our fight and together we will win. Friendly with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
When Slovenia declared independence in 1991, 63-year-old Jansa served as defense minister during the small state’s brief and successful uprising against Yugoslav forces. More recently, he has been comparing Ukraine’s resistance to an insurgency against a more formidable enemy of Slovenia.
The presence in Kyiv of Poland’s de facto leader, Kaczynski, had a symbolic significance. He is the twin of the late President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash on Russian soil in 2010, as well as 95 other Poles, including political and military leaders, as they were killed by Soviet secret police during World War I. . Celebrate the stick that is gone. second.
A Polish investigation determined that the accident was caused by fog and pilot error. Nevertheless, Kaczynski, 72, has long suspected that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a role in instigating the crash, a suspicion that has not been proven.
Morawiecki said on Facebook that the European Union had agreed to the visit and the United Nations had also been informed. Yet in Brussels, officials said they had been informed of the voyage, but portrayed it as moving freely across the war zone.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who was asked about the visit, did not explicitly endorse it, but said, “I think it is important that the leaders of NATO countries, the leaders of European member states, accompany President Zelensky. Ho. Connecting closely.”
Moravicki’s chief of staff, Michal Dworski, said the visit had been planned for several days, but was kept secret for security reasons.
Shortly before dawn and hours before the leaders were in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials fired large explosions across the city from Russian artillery attacks. The shelling ignited a major fire and a frantic rescue effort in a 15-story apartment building. At least one person died and others were trapped inside.
Shock waves from an explosion also damaged a downtown metro station in Kyiv that has been used as a bomb shelter. City officials tweeted a picture of the torn part, saying the train would no longer stop at the station.
Before his departure, Moraviki recalled on Facebook how Lech Kaczynski visited the Georgia capital in 2008 when the former Soviet country was invaded by Russia.
He quoted President Kaczynski, who said in Tbilisi at the time: “Today it’s Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the day after tomorrow for the Baltic states, and then maybe it’s time for my country, Poland.”