French, German, Italian leaders in 1st Kyiv trip since invasion

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi have arrived in Kyiv in a joint show of support for Ukraine as it faces down Russia’s invasion.

“It’s an important moment. It’s a message of unity we’re sending to the Ukrainians,” Macron said after a special overnight train provided by Ukrainian authorities carried the trio into a station in the capital, Kyiv, early on Thursday morning.

They were set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later in the day.

The European leaders’ visit has taken weeks to organise, while all three have faced criticism from Kyiv over support viewed as tepid.

It comes as Ukraine continues to plead with its Western allies for them to supply it with additional heavy weaponry as it seeks to fend off Russian advances in the country’s south and east, nearly four months into the war.

Moscow is now steadily gaining ground on the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces but Major-General Dmytro Marchenko, who leads Ukraine’s forces in the southern city of Mykolaiv, said his troops could achieve victory over Russia if they were given the right weapons.

Kyiv has criticised France, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy, for alleged foot-dragging in their support against Russia, accusing them of being slow to deliver weapons and of putting their own prosperity ahead of Ukraine’s freedom and security.

EU to decide on Ukraine membership bid

The trip also comes a day before the European Union’s executive commission is expected to recommend pushing forward with Ukraine’s bid to join the bloc, which EU leaders are expected to endorse at a summit in Brussels next week, and ahead of a June 29-30 NATO summit in Madrid.

France currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

On Tuesday, during a trip to Ukraine’s neighbours Romania and Moldova, Macron said a “message of support” must be sent to Ukraine before EU heads of state and government “have to make important decisions” at their Brussels meeting.

“We are in a moment where we need to send clear political signals — we, Europeans, we the European Union — toward Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said.

Macron is deeply involved in diplomatic efforts to push for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would allow future peace negotiations.

He has held frequent discussions with Zelenskyy and has spoken on the phone several times with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Moscow launched its invasion in late February.

After Russia began its self-described “special military operation” claiming its aim was to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour, Ukraine repelled an armoured assault on Kyiv in March.