After four months of war, Ukraine is about to experience a special day, and to see, perhaps, its current efforts turn into hope. This Thursday, June 23, a European summit is being held to decide whether or not to grant Ukraine the status of official candidate for membership of the European Union. At the same time, the pockets of Ukrainian resistance around the industrial towns of Lyssitchansk and Severodonetsk, in the Donbass region in the east of the country, see the Russian army advancing a little more every day.
- The European Union decides on Ukraine’s candidacy
It is perhaps the fate of the Ukrainian nation that is being played out this Thursday in Brussels, as the Twenty-Seven are considering its candidacy for membership of the European Union. A crucial step in the conflict between kyiv and Moscow, as a green light would signify the determination of the member countries of the European Union to see Ukraine remain a sovereign state at all costs. “We expect a key European decision in the evening,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky, who continues to reiterate his desire to officially belong to the “European family”.
He should thus continue his “telephone marathon” with European leaders in order to obtain a favorable decision. In this fight, he can count on the support of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who on Wednesday called on European heads of state and government to show themselves “up to the task”. A few days ago, the European executive issued a favorable opinion on Ukraine’s candidacy. And on Tuesday, France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, indicated that a “total consensus” between the Twenty-Seven had emerged on this question.
- Grain storage terminals bombed in Mykolaiv
Two grain storage terminals were hit by Russian shelling on Wednesday in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, their operators said. The Evri port terminal, owned by Viterra and dedicated to vegetable oils, was “damaged by a missile attack”. As for that of Bunge, it was hit “during the last Russian attacks in the region,” said a spokeswoman, adding that the exact extent of the damage was not yet known.
The ports of Mykolaiv and Odessa have been blocked since the beginning of the conflict, which has paralyzed the maritime transport of agricultural raw materials, the main export route for Ukraine until then. Discussions, without concrete results to date, have taken place between Russia and Turkey on the opening of maritime corridors which would allow bulk carriers to travel from Ukraine to the Black Sea, an area made impracticable by the presence of mines. According to Ankara, a Turkish merchant ship was still able to leave the Ukrainian port of Mariupol on Wednesday.
- Russia continues its breakthrough in the Donbass
Russian forces continue to tighten their grip in the Donbass on the twin cities of Lyssytchansk and Severodonetsk. The pocket of Ukrainian resistance around these two strategic industrial cities is increasingly tightly surrounded by the Russians, prompting Volodymyr Zlensky to call for new arms deliveries. “As actively as we are fighting for a positive decision from the European Union on Ukraine’s candidacy, we are fighting daily to secure supplies of modern weapons,” he said on Wednesday. “They want to destroy all of Donbass, step by step. Entirely. Lysychansk, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk… They want to turn all cities into Mariupol.”
“The Russians are approaching Lysytchansk, taking a foothold in neighboring towns and bombing the city with their planes”, acknowledged earlier in the day Sergey Gaïdaï, the governor of the Lugansk region, epicenter of the conflict in recent weeks.
- The United States considered more reliable since the invasion of Ukraine
Major suppliers of arms and military equipment to Ukraine, the United States are considered more reliable by the populations of the allied countries since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the image of Russia, already negative, plunged further, according to an international poll published on Wednesday. In Sweden, a northern European country which has just presented its candidacy to join NATO, 84% of those questioned believe that Washington is a reliable partner, 21 points more than a year earlier, after this Pew Research Center study conducted in 18 states.
A comparable increase was recorded in South Korea (83%, +25 points) and Canada (84%, +16 points). America’s reliability image has also improved significantly in other countries including Belgium, Germany, the UK and Australia.