German, French, Italian leaders in Irpin in show of support

The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania walked amid the ruined buildings of the Ukrainian town of Irpin on Thursday in a show of support which the Kyiv government hopes will be followed by concrete action to help it in the war with Russia.

Irpin, which had a pre-war population of about 62,000, was one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops before they pulled back from Ukraine’s northern regions to intensify their offensive in the east.

Standing by gutted, burnt-down buildings, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Mario Draghi and Romania’s Klaus Iohannis, looked stern as they listened to a Ukrainian official explaining what had happened there.

Ukraine says Russia committed large-scale atrocities in Irpin. Russia denies the allegations.

The leaders, dressed in suits but not wearing any visible protective equipment, were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

Shown a slogan on a wall saying “Make Europe not war,” Macron said: “It’s very moving to see that. This is the right message.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom they are due to meet later, was not present.

Earlier, as he stepped off the train in Kyiv after an overnight journey with Draghi and Scholz, Macron called the visit to Ukraine “an important moment”.

“It’s a message of unity we’re sending to the Ukrainians, of support, to talk both about the present and the future, since the coming weeks, as we know, will be very difficult,” he said.

Macron, who had been criticised at home and abroad for not travelling to Ukraine earlier, had repeatedly said he would only go if and when the visit could be “useful” and not be just a symbolic show of support.

It remained to be seen what concrete steps he would announce.

EU CANDIDACY

An Elysee official said this was considered a good time to visit as a European Union summit takes place next week that will discuss Kyiv’s bid to join the 27-nation bloc.

The EU executive is expected to propose on Friday that Ukraine become a formal candidate for membership, diplomats and officials say. That would be a significant political gesture to the country as it resists Russia’s invasion but is also something EU leaders are very divided on.

“A balance has to be found between Ukraine’s natural aspirations to (join) the EU at a very special time, and attention to all the countries which already have candidate status and are stuck in the negotiation chapters,” the Elysee official said.

Zelenskiy is expected to push his visitors to send more arms to help his hard-pressed army withstand the Russian invaders.

Kyiv has accused France, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy, of foot-dragging in their support for Ukraine, saying they have been slow to deliver weapons and of putting their own prosperity ahead of Ukraine’s freedom and security.

A high-ranking official from an EU country said Zelenskiy was “in a really difficult position: the Ukrainian army not only needs weapons, but is also increasing lack of soldiers.”

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy, told German newspaper Bild this week he was concerned the three leaders would put pressure on Kyiv to accept a peace deal favourable to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Addressing this concern, Draghi said on Tuesday it was important for peace talks to open as soon as possible, but added they had to be “on terms that Ukraine deems acceptable”.

Ukraine has been particularly critical of Germany’s military aid and the country’s ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, told German broadcaster NTV he expected Scholz to hand over heavy weapons that had been long-promised but not yet delivered.

Scholz has dismissed allegations he has held back much-needed military support, saying Germany was one of the biggest military and financial backers of Ukraine, and that it was taking time to train Ukrainian soldiers to use the sophisticated artillery systems that it was offering.