- Zelenskiy urges West to speed up deliveries of heavy weapons
- EU leaders will begin Ukraine’s accession process
- The battle for the twin cities of Donbas reaches a critical stage
Kyiv, June 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine will be accepted on Thursday as a candidate to join the European Union, a move that will boost the country’s morale as the battle with Russian troops for two cities in the east arrives what an official called a “fierce climax.”
While the approval of the Kyiv government’s request by EU leaders meeting in Brussels is just the beginning of what will be a process of years, it means a major geopolitical change and will irritate Russia while struggles to impose its will on Ukraine.
Friday marks four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to the border in what he called a “special military operation”, in part necessary for the Western invasion in what Russia considers its sphere of influence.
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The conflict, which the West sees as an unjustified war of aggression by Russia, has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities, as well as ramifications in much of the world as exports of food and energy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his country’s allies to speed up heavy weapons shipments to match Russia on the battlefield.
“We need to liberate our land and get the victory, but faster, much faster,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday.
Moscow’s massive airstrikes and artillery attacks are aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region, he said.
Russia focused its campaign on southern and eastern Ukraine after its advance on the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the conflict was thwarted by strong Ukrainian resistance.
The war of attrition in the Donbas, the industrial center of Ukraine, is most critical of the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, which straddle the Siverskyi Donets River in Luhansk Oblast.
The battle there “is entering a kind of formidable climax,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, a Zelenskiy adviser.
Ukrainian forces were defending Sievierodonetsk and the nearby settlements of Zolote and Vovchoyrovka, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday, but Russian forces had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka in the south.
Hundreds of civilians are trapped in a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk while Ukraine and Russia are vying for control of the bombed city.
Moscow says Ukrainian forces in the city are surrounded and trapped. But Gaidai told Ukrainian television on Wednesday that Russian forces did not have full control of Sievierodonetsk.
Gaidai said all of Lysychansk was within reach of the Russian fire.
“To avoid the siege, our command could order troops to withdraw to new positions. There may be a regrouping after last night,” he said.
The TASS news agency quoted Russian-backed separatists as saying that Lysychansk was now surrounded and cut off from supplies after a road had been taken connecting the city with the city of Sieviersk.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
The British Defense Ministry said some Ukrainian units had withdrawn, probably to avoid being surrounded.
“Russian forces are putting Lysychansk-Sievierodonetsk’s pocket under increasing pressure with this rampant advance … however, their efforts to secure a deeper encirclement to take the West Donetsk oblast remain stalled,” the ministry said. on Twitter.
IN THE MARCH
Zelenskiy said he had spoken to 11 EU leaders on Wednesday about Ukraine’s candidacy and would make more calls on Thursday.
European Union Executive Director Ursula von der Leyen, speaking ahead of the two-day EU summit in Brussels, said: “History is on track.”
He added: “I’m not just talking about Putin’s war of aggression. I’m talking about the wind of change blowing across our continent again.”
In addition to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are also looking to join the EU in what would be their most ambitious expansion since hosting the post-Cold War Eastern European states.
Russia has long opposed closer ties between Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, and Western groups such as the European Union and the NATO military alliance.
Diplomats say Ukraine will need a decade or more to meet the criteria to enter the EU. But EU leaders say the bloc must make a gesture in recognition of Ukraine’s sacrifice.
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Reuters office reports; Written by Angus MacSwan; Edited by Mark Heinrich
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