Did the expectations from the visit to Ukraine of Macron, Scholz and Draghi come true?

From the visit of Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Mario Draghi and the Romanian President Klaus who joined them Johannis was expected a lot. For example, clarifying the issue of further European integration of Ukraine through granting it the status of a candidate member of the European Union, resolving the issue of further deliveries of heavy weapons.

And the leaders of France, Germany and Italy wanted to solve the food issue of the supply of Ukrainian grain to Europe, since Russia blocked the sea routes for its transportation. “KP in Ukraine” found out whether these expectations were justified.

The doors for Ukraine to Europe are open

In this regard, the visit of European leaders brought tangible progress. Emmanuel Macron explained that the main goal of the visit to Ukraine of the leaders of the three largest EU economies – Germany, Italy and France, as well as the President of Romania – is to achieve a common opinion of all EU member states on Ukraine's first step towards joining it, namely, granting candidate status.< /p>

“You know that there was a certain disagreement in Europe regarding the status of the candidate. Therefore, I decided that it is best to come now, having united the supporting countries, so that later, in 8 days, we will make efforts to obtain unanimity in the European Union and prepare the approval of the candidate's status. We must show Ukraine a decisive and clear act,” the French president said.

After meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, the leaders of Germany, Italy, Romania and France called for immediate EU candidate status for Ukraine.< /p>

“Germany stands for a positive decision in favor of Ukraine. This also applies to the Republic of Moldova. Ukraine is part of the European family,” said Olaf Scholz.

“We support Ukraine's status for joining the European union,” said Emmanuel Macron.

The President of France announced that Ukraine should receive candidate status on June 23. However, Ukraine must then fulfill the conditions in order to move through the EU membership negotiation procedure. “The status of a candidate is immediately granted, and then conditions are provided for each subsequent section of the negotiations to open,” he stressed. To agree on the terms of Ukraine's membership in the EU, more than 30 negotiating chapters must be opened and closed.

There will be new deliveries of weapons

During his speech following the meeting, Zelensky said that Ukraine was waiting for deliveries, primarily of heavy weapons, modern rocket artillery and missile defense systems.

“Each batch of such supplies is the saved lives of people. And every day of delay or delayed decisions is an opportunity for the Russian military to kill Ukrainians and destroy our cities. There is a direct correlation – the more powerful weapons we get, the faster we can liberate our people, our land. The Ukrainian people – their absolute majority – are waiting for the liberation of our entire territory,” the President of Ukraine stressed.

In response, Emmanuel Macron said that France would increase defense assistance to Kyiv. In particular, in the near future he must sign an order to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with six additional Caesar artillery mounts with a caliber of 155 mm. Earlier, France handed over to our state 12 such installations capable of hitting targets at a distance of 40 km.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said that his country would continue to supply weapons to Ukraine.

“Germany has long broken its state tradition: we began to provide weapons to Ukraine. And we will continue to do this as far as Ukraine needs,” he said at a joint press conference.

He noted that in Germany the Ukrainian military is trained to use modern weapons, in particular self-propelled howitzers and anti-aircraft guns. “We also promised that we will provide IRIS installations (IRIS-T air defense systems. – Ed.), Which will protect entire cities from air raids. We have also agreed with the United States and Great Britain that we will provide multiple launch rocket launchers,” Scholz said.

The path for Ukrainian grain to Europe

The President of France mentioned the unresolved problem with the blockade of Ukrainian exports, which threatens a food crisis for many countries. He stressed that this is a direct consequence of the war waged by the Russian Federation.

“We call on Russia to agree that the United Nations organizes grain exports by lifting the blockade of Ukrainian ports,” said Emmanuel Macron.

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Therefore, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he and his European colleagues are working on a route for the export of grain from Ukraine through Romania. We are talking about 22 million tons of grain, which cannot be exported due to the blocking of Ukrainian ports by Russia.

“We are now working on a new route that will pass through Romania, because Odessa is located a few kilometers from the border. Together with Romania, we are creating a connecting point for grain exports,” Macron said.

According to him, in this case, the grain could be transported along the Danube or by rail. Earlier, the Elysee Palace announced France's readiness to participate in the operation to unblock the port of Odessa.

Sanctions against Russia – “until the end”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said following the visit that the sanctions against Russia, which attacked Ukraine, will remain in effect until Moscow reaches a “fair agreement” with Kyiv.

According to him, what the terms of the agreement will be fair, only Ukraine itself can determine, “this cannot and will not be dictated by anyone in Europe.” Scholz added that in conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he repeatedly spoke about the inadmissibility of a “dictated peace.”

He also stated that “Germany will not accept the annexation of Crimea” because “it would be a violation of international law.”

Expert Opinion

Anton Kuchukhidze , international expert:

– All statements of European leaders are very positive and good for Ukraine. Moreover, their position has changed just in the last couple of days. After all, France, Germany and Italy were the main opponents of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the EU. And then there are statements that all negotiations with Russia will be on the terms of Ukraine and Kyiv needs to be given weapons. Probably, the fact that the United States declared that it fully supported the union of Britain, Poland and Ukraine had an effect. Or a trip to the ruined Irpen had such an impact on them. But one way or another, Kyiv has strengthened its position in Europe.

That is, the statements of European leaders are generally very positive, but now concrete actions are needed. On June 23-24, the European Council summit will take place, and we will see how the Europeans will fulfill their promises.

Photo Photo 16 June16:54