BRUSSELS, June 18 — by Dave Clark with Anna Malpas in the Donbas Europe sent a powerful symbol of solidarity with Ukraine yesterday as Brussels backed Kyiv’s bid for EU...
BRUSSELS, June 18 — by Dave Clark with Anna Malpas in the Donbas Europe sent a powerful symbol of solidarity with Ukraine yesterday as Brussels backed Kyiv’s bid for EU candidate status — a decision Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “nothing against”.
“We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us for the European dream,” she said. Each Ukrainian soldier would spend three weeks on the British training course, learning combat tactics, basic medical skills, cybersecurity and counter explosive tactics.Once Ukraine joins the EU candidates’ list — alongside several countries in the western Balkans — it could still take years to meet all the formal membership requirements, even if Kyiv prevails in the war.
Senior Ukrainian defence officials interviewed by National Defence magazine in the US gave an idea of the heavy losses their country has suffered in terms of equipment in fighting with the Russians. France’s network provider said it had not received any Russian gas by pipeline from Germany since June 15, and Italy’s Eni said it expected Russian firm Gazprom to cut its supplies by half yesterday.
“The humanitarian situation across Ukraine — particularly in the eastern Donbas — is extremely alarming and continues to deteriorate rapidly,” the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, said.