The former German defense minister is accompanied by a delegation that also includes EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Von der Leyen took the train from southeastern Poland to Kiev on Friday night.
1:48 pm on April 8, 2022
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Ursula von der Leyen © (c) AP (Jean-François Badias)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on a solidarity visit, where he will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, among others. Von der Leyen is accompanied by a delegation that also includes EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. She is the first high-ranking Western politician to visit Ukraine since the war atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha became known.
The missile attack this morning on a train station used for the evacuation of civilians in Ukraine is despicable.
I am saddened by the loss of life and will personally offer my condolences to the President @ZelenskyyUa
My thoughts are with the victims’ families.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 8, 2022
Von der Leyen took the train from southeastern Poland to Kiev on Friday night. She boarded the train in the small Polish town of Przemysl, 13 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Airspace over Ukraine is closed because of the war.
However, they were already in mid-March. heads of government of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic was in Ukraine to show solidarity. Last week, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, visited Kiev.
In response to the killing of hundreds of civilians in Butscha, von der Leyen proposed a fifth package of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, which EU states are now discussing. Among other things, it contains a ban on imports of coal from Russia, but also other restrictions on trade with Russia and an extensive ban on Russian ships entering EU ports. For some Member States, sanctions do not go far enough.
A good six weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine, the European Union Representation in Kiev reopened. The announcement was made by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the train journey to Kiev for the delegation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ambassador Matti Maasikos was also aboard the train. He will resume work in the Ukrainian capital with a small team. The EU representation was completely evacuated the day after the start of the war, and from then on, a core team worked in Rzeszow, in southern Poland.
The ambassador’s trip and return must show “that Ukraine exists, that there is a capital, a government and representations of other countries”. The country is still under Ukrainian control, Borrell said. Referring to the train journey across the country, the Spaniard said: “You don’t feel like you’re at war.”
He also announced that he would provide 7.5 million euros for investigations that Ukraine is conducting into war crimes in the Kiev suburb of Bucha and elsewhere.
According to Borrell, the visit to Kiev will also include advice on how, in particular, EU military support to Ukraine in the fight against Russia can be better managed. He expressed confidence that EU states will agree to his proposal to provide Ukraine with an additional €500 million to support the Ukrainian armed forces in their fight against the Russian army in the coming days. This would increase available funds to €1.5 billion.
According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, short-term restrictions on Russian gas imports into the EU would not just be a big challenge for Germany. “People say: Oh, it’s Germany. No, it’s not just a German problem, because the German economy is very intertwined with the European economy,” Borrell said Friday on the train to Kiev. Something that happens in one country has an immediate impact on other countries.
There is currently a heated debate in the EU over the extent and speed with which Russian energy imports should be halted because of the war. According to estimates by economist Simone Tagliapietra of the think tank Bruegel, the EU currently spends €15 million a day on coal, around €400 million on gas and €450 million on Russian oil.
Regarding the visit to Kiev and the energy issue, Borrell said, “That’s the big elephant in the room.” EU countries have just decided to ban coal imports with a four-month transition period. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj immediately called for tougher measures.
On the way to Kiev, Borrell confirmed that an oil embargo would likely come sooner than a gas embargo. Austria also depends on Russia for around 80% of its gas reserves and has so far rejected this embargo. At the EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, the topic of energy sanctions will be on the table.
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