The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticized in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia's invasion
Air raid sirens blared in Kyiv as the visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Olaf Scholz and Italy's Mario Draghi began, with the leaders touring a nearby town wrecked early in the war.
"We appreciate the support already provided by partners, we expect new deliveries, primarily heavy weapons, modern rocket artillery, anti-missile defence systems," Zelenskiy said after the talks with his European counterparts. "This will mean more NATO forward deployed combat formations... More air, sea and cyber defences, as well as pre-positioned equipment and weapon stockpiles," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.The visit to Ukraine by the three most powerful EU leaders had taken weeks to organise while they fended off criticism over positions described as too deferential to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Ukraine has long criticised Scholz over what it regards as Germany's slow delivery of weapons and reluctance to sever economic ties with Moscow, and was furious this month at Macron for saying in an interview that Russia must not be "humiliated". Russia blames sanctions for both, while Italy's Draghi said Moscow was making "political use" of the situation.
"Every day it becomes more and more difficult because the Russians are pulling more and more weapons into the city," Sievierodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on Thursday.
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