The summit between President Zelensky and EU President Ursula von der Leyen has opened in Kiev. The air-raid alarm sirens are ringing in the Ukrainian capital, but the EU is keeping a close eye on a presence that above all has political value, as the deadline of February 24th, the date of the Russian aggression and the start of the war, approaches. Europe is preparing a new package of sanctions for Moscow and the delegation in Kiev is large: the vice presidents Margrethe Vestager, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vera Jourova, Marso Sefcovic, Margaritis Schinas and the High Representative Josep Borrell are taking part in the meeting. Also present were commissioners Paolo Gentiloni, Ylva Johansson, Janez Lenarcic, Janusz Wojciechowski, Olivér Várhelyi, Virginijus Sinkevičius, Nicolas Schmit, Didier Reynders and Mairead McGuinness. “Back in Kiev for the EU-Ukraine summit with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell. There will be no respite in our determination – wrote the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a tweet – we will support you at every stage of your journey towards the EU”.
EU-Kiev summit: air raid alert and leaked information on CIA proposal to Putin
As Europe confirms its unwavering political support for Kiev, rumors say CIA chief William Burns has offered Putin a fifth of the territory of Ukraineabout the size of Donbass to end the war. The hypothesis landed on the pages of Newsweek which quotes the Swiss-German newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). However, the White House denied it.
The 007 Ukrainians, meanwhile, maintain that Vladimir Putin ordered his army to seize by March of Lugansk and Donetsk regions. And on the ground there is indeed "an intensification of Russian attacks, particularly in Lugansk", Governor Sergy Gaidai declared on Ukrainian TV. “The occupiers have become more active on the Eastern Front. Particularly in the Luhansk region, the occupiers are gathering even more reserves. "The Russians are shutting down mobile internet in occupied Lugansk out of fear that local residents will report the movement of equipment," he added.
Ukraine: Russia allegedly deported 14.000 children
And as tension grows, so does the horror of a senseless war. The US representative to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) said that "more than 14.000 children have been forcibly transferred from the conquered Ukrainian territories to the Russian Federation". A real deportation. At a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the American diplomat – Michael Carpenter – added that “the authorities of the Russian Federation seek to eliminate all manifestations of Ukrainian national identity and turn all Ukrainians into loyal subjects of the Russian Empire”.
