EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that she had arrived in Kyiv to offer support ahead of winter, as Russia keeps up its bombing campaign of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“My eighth visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, along with a picture of her at a rail station.
“We will help Ukraine in its brave efforts. I come here to discuss Europe’s support. From winter preparedness to defense, to accession and progress on the G7 loans.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for more than 30 months, with Ukraine now controlling parts of Russia’s Kursk region while Moscow presses an advance into eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has lobbied its allies to allow it to use donated weapons to strike “legitimate” military targets deep in Russian territory.
The United States and Britain have been discussing allowing it to do just that — but EU states remain divided over the issue.
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on EU countries to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
The resolution, adopted on Thursday, September 19, with 425 votes in favor, 131 against, and 63 abstentions, states that without lifting the current restrictions, Ukraine cannot fully exercise its right to self-defense and remains vulnerable to attacks on its population and infrastructure.
The Parliament emphasizes that insufficient ammunition supplies and restrictions on their use risk offsetting the impact of efforts made so far and regrets the decrease in the volume of bilateral military aid provided to Ukraine by EU countries. The members reiterate their call for EU member states to fulfill their March 2023 commitment to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and to expedite the delivery of weapons, air defense systems, and ammunition, including TAURUS missiles.
They also reaffirm their position that all EU countries and NATO allies should collectively and individually commit to providing Ukraine with annual military support of at least 0.25% of their GDP.
Washington currently authorizes Ukraine to only hit Russian targets in occupied parts of Ukraine and some in Russian border regions directly related to Moscow’s combat operations.
With AFP
