On Sunday, May 22, the Russian army continued to bombard eastern Ukraine in an attempt to capture Severodonetsk in Luhansk, one of the two sub-regions of Donbass. On the diplomatic front, France estimated that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would take “probably 15 or 20 years,” at the risk of Kyiv flinching. Here is the most important information of the day.
Russian strikes “all over the territory”
According to the Ukrainian Presidency, Russian bombings targeted the cities of Mykolayiv, Kharkiv and Zaporijia overnight from Saturday to Sunday. In its daily morning briefing, Ukraine’s general staff noted that the Russian army was “continuing its missile and airstrikes throughout the area” and even “increased their intensity, using aviation to destroy critical infrastructure.”
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US research center, Russian forces have “gained ground” in the Rubyne-Severodonetsk-Lysychansk region and “intensified their efforts to capture Severodonetsk.” Near this place, the troops of Moscow destroyed a bridge, thereby showing their will to encircle the city.
Martial law in Ukraine extended by three months
In two votes on Sunday, Ukraine’s parliament, the Rada, approved the extension of presidential decrees on martial law and general mobilization until August 23. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it on February 24, the first day of the Russian invasion of the country. They have already been extended twice by one month each.
A “historic” visit of the Polish President to Kyiv
Polish President Andrzej Duda on Sunday became the first foreign head of state to address Ukraine’s parliament in Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion. “According to [les massacres à] Boutcha, Borodyanka, Mariupol, there must be no more ‘business as usual’ with Russia,” he said during a speech that was repeatedly interrupted by standing ovations. Ukraine is not a member of the EU”.
For his part, his Ukrainian counterpart hailed “a historic moment”, “a historic union between the Ukrainian and Polish peoples” before the deputies. “Poland plays an important role in our future, in our common future within the European Union,” affirmed Volodymyr Zelensky. If Ukraine becomes a member of the EU, “it will be thanks to Poland”. A bilateral agreement to reduce customs controls at the border between the two countries will be signed “in the near future,” he also announced.
Ukraine in the EU in “15 or 20 years”, according to Paris
Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will “probably take 15 or 20 years,” French Minister for European Affairs Clément Beaune estimated on Sunday. “If we say that Ukraine will join the EU in 6 months, 1 year or 2 years, we are lying. Kyiv is now joining the European political community proposed by Emmanuel Macron.
On May 9, the French President ruled that the EU accession process envisaged by Kyiv would “take several years, even several decades”, hence his proposal for a “new European organisation”. On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy again rejected this lead: “We don’t need any alternatives to Ukraine’s EU candidacy, we don’t need such compromises.”