The leaders of France, Italy, Romania, and Germany have met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in their first trip to Kyiv since the start of Russia's invasion. 9News READ MORE:
— and failing to provide Ukraine with the scale of weaponry that it has said is necessary to fend off the Russians. Romania's president also made the journey.
The US and its European allies have given billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine, and Germany and the US recently announced new arms shipments. Such arms have been key to the country's surprising success in preventing the Russians from taking the capital, but officials in Kyiv have said much more will be needed if they are to drive Moscow's forces out.
But Ukrainians say more is still needed as Russian forces pressing their offensive in the eastern Donbas region, slowly but steadily gaining ground on the badly outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces.Gov. Serhiy Haidai of Luhansk, which is also part of the Donbas, said the visit would not yield progress if the leaders ask Ukraine to sign a peace treaty with Russia that involves giving up territory.
Italian Premier Mario Draghi said during the tour of Irpin that Ukraine's backers will rebuild "everything" with European help.Macron, Scholz and Draghi, representing the three largest economies in the European Union, traveled to Kyiv together on a special overnight train provided by the Ukrainian authorities. They have been criticised for not visiting Kyiv sooner.
In Ukraine, Macron responded to criticism of France's response, including his recent comment that Russia shouldn't be "humiliated," which deeply angered Ukrainians. He insisted that "France has been at Ukraine's side since the first day." Scholz had long resisted traveling to Kyiv, saying he didn't want to "join the queue of people who do a quick in-out for a photo opportunity." Instead, Scholz said a trip should focus on doing "concrete things."
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