in Brussels, Zelensky seeking encouragement from the EU – L’Express

After a visit to the United States, Volodymyr Zelensky went yesterday to Oslo, Norway, for a meeting of the leaders of the five Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland), where he was warmly welcomed. Today, the Ukrainian head of state is going to Brussels for a summit of 27 which is to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. kyiv believes it has fulfilled all the conditions demanded by Brussels, and is now impatiently awaiting encouragement from the Europeans, which it badly needs at a time when Moscow is increasing its attacks on Ukrainian territory.

⇒ The EU seeks a way out of the Hungarian veto on Ukraine

⇒ The head of the US Senate “hopes” for an agreement “soon” on Ukraine

⇒ 53 people injured, including two children yesterday, in the Russian attack on kyiv

European leaders will seek Thursday to convince inflexible Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to accept that the EU opens accession negotiations with Ukraine and to drop his veto on crucial aid to the war-torn country. The European Commission announced on Wednesday the release of some 10 billion euros for Hungary.

Viktor Orban said it again on Wednesday in his parliament: the Europeans would make a “terrible mistake” if they agreed, during this summit in Brussels, to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. “We must prevent it even if the other 26 members are of another opinion,” he insisted.

Dozens of people were injured in kyiv on Wednesday by a salvo of Russian missiles, causing the heaviest in months in the capital and illustrating growing pressure from Moscow against which Ukraine is seeking help from the West. 53 people were injured across the city, 20 of whom were hospitalized, including two children, according to the Health Ministry. kyiv has been on the defensive since the failure of its summer counter-offensive, especially since the West, led by the Americans, are now procrastinating on the extent of the political, military and financial aid to be provided to their Ukrainian ally.

The head of the US Senate Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that he “hopes” that an agreement will be found soon on an envelope for Ukraine, much debated in Congress, and crucial for this country at war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington on Tuesday to increase pressure on the American ally, who is currently struggling with the $61 billion increase demanded by Joe Biden.

The Democrats are in favor of this envelope while the Republicans are not. “Negotiations continue today between Democrats, Republicans and the Biden administration,” said Senator Chuck Schumer. “I hope that we can reach an agreement soon so that this extension is adopted by the Senate,” he said from the hemicycle.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov assured that the Ukrainian army was “rapidly” losing ground on the front and that the crumbling of Western support was putting Kiev in “a difficult situation”, in an interview published on Wednesday. The United States, Ukraine’s great ally, “wonders where its money is going” because “there is no victory on the battlefield”, he told the Russian media Izvestia. “In addition, the Ukrainian armed forces are quickly losing their positions,” he added.

Europe must not allow its decisions to be dictated by the fear of provoking Moscow, at the risk of compromising its support for Ukraine, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas warned on Wednesday before a crucial EU summit. “There is too much fear towards Russia and this fear can give excessive power (to Moscow): Russia only understands that strength and weakness amounts to provoking Russia,” she said. declared in an interview with AFP. Estonia, a Baltic state itself sharing a border with Russia and traumatized by the memory of the Soviet occupation, has long been a fervent supporter of kyiv in the face of Moscow’s offensive. “The war is exhausting Russia and we should not underestimate our own power,” Kaja Kallas told AFP.

Vladimir Putin, energized by Ukraine’s difficulties and Western procrastination, appears Thursday at a marathon session of questions from journalists and citizens, a week after announcing his intention to stay in the Kremlin at least until 2030. Confident that in 2024 time will work in his favor in Ukraine and that the setbacks of his army in 2022 belong to the past, Vladimir Putin has decided to resume this question-and-answer exercise which he had given up last year.