Steph Deschamps / June 16, 2022
The three leaders boarded the special train in Poland and are expected to arrive in Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday morning, according to ZDF in Germany and the Italian daily La Repubblica, which published a photo of the three leaders on the train. Macron, Scholz and Draghi met overnight in Rzeszow, a city in southeastern Poland with an international airport, before continuing on to Ukraine in the direction of Kiev, ZDF said.
I think we are at a time when we need to send clear political signals, we European Union, towards Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in a context where it resists heroically for several months, said the French president, questioned the day before on a possible trip to Kiev.
This trip is a first for the leaders of the three main countries of the European Union, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The three men are expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss, in addition to military support, Ukraine's request to join the European Union. France, Germany and Italy are in favour of this, but in a more or less distant perspective.
Ukraine is nonetheless waiting for the European summit of June 23-24 to decide on its official application for membership, the beginning of a negotiation process that could last several years. Its president is also expected to reiterate his request for new deliveries of heavy weapons, which he says are essential to counter Russian firepower.