Today will be the first summit between the European Union and Ukraine since the beginning of the war

The 24th European Union (EU)-Ukraine summit is taking place in Kyiv today, with the agenda focused, among other things, on the process of Ukraine’s accession to the bloc and the European response to the war provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This is the first EU-Ukraine summit since the Russian military offensive began almost a year ago, and since the European Council granted Ukraine candidate country status in June 2022.

“Ukraine’s initiatives for a just peace and accountability”, “cooperation on issues related to recovery and immediate assistance”, especially in the field of energy, and “global food security” remain on the agenda of the meeting.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell will sit at the summit table.

On the eve of the meeting, Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the Ukrainian capital, accompanied by more than a dozen European commissioners, to hold a set of bilateral meetings with the Ukrainian government.

Speaking in Kyiv with the President of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU plans to adopt the tenth package of sanctions against Russia by February 24, which marks one year since the invasion of Ukraine began.

At the same press conference, Zelensky accused Moscow of using its military to “revenge” Ukraine, as well as the “free Europe” backing Kyiv.

Also on Thursday, the European Parliament approved a decision urging the EU to complete the accession of Ukraine and move forward with the tenth package of sanctions against Russia, the same day that the EU Council adopted the seventh package of military assistance to Ukraine, in the amount of 500 million euros and an amount of 45 million to finance the Mission military aid.