Today “a truly historic week begins,” Zelenskyy announced in his daily video address, in which Ukraine will receive “the European Union’s response on candidate status.”
“Since 1991 there have been few decisions as important for Ukraine as the ones we are expecting today,” he added, saying he was “convinced that only a positive response is in the interests of all of Europe”.
The European Commission (EC) last Friday recommended that the Council grant Ukraine candidate status to the EU, “assuming action is taken in a number of areas”.
“We have a clear message: yes, Ukraine deserves the European perspective, and yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country,” announced EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.
Portugal will follow the European Commission’s opinion in order for Ukraine to be granted this status, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa announced last Friday after a day of hearing parties with parliamentary representatives on the matter.
EU member states meet Thursday and Friday to decide whether to officially grant Ukraine candidate status, which requires unanimity of the 27.
Until then, “of course we expect Russia to step up its attacks this week,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned. “We are ready,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader said the Russians would “regroup their forces towards Kharkiv (northeast) and the Zaporiya region (south).” He added, “They’re still bombing our fuel infrastructure.”
“We will react to these attacks,” assured Zelenskyy, but admitted “significant losses”. “Our army is resisting,” he said.
“[Os russos] attempted an advance in the Toshkivka region, they were partially successful, but our artillery worked and we can say that the attempted advance was unsuccessful,” said Sergey Gaidai, governor of the eastern Lugansk region.
In Lysychansk there are signs of preparations for street fighting, with soldiers digging trenches and laying barbed wire and police laying burnedout vehicles on the streets to stop Russian forces from advancing.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed to have captured Metolkine, just outside Severodonetsk, and claimed to have hit a factory in Mykolaiv to the south after “ten 155mm M777 howitzers and up to 20 armored vehicles were destroyed, supplied by the Kiev regime “Western”.
In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine, which was condemned by much of the international community, which responded by supplying arms to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia.
Also read: “The challenges are huge with so many people fleeing in such a short time”
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