A series of European leaders came to Kyjiv

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Keiro Starmer (Kiro Starmer) journey is the first time in four European states.

E. Macron, F. Merz and K. Starmer arrived by train from Poland and later joined D. Tusk.

They were greeted by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrijus Sybiha and Andriy Jermak, Head of the Presidential Administration.

More than three years after the beginning of the Russian invasion, this extremely symbolic demonstration of Europe’s unity takes place the day after President Vladimir Putin showed a hostile tone in the Moscow Parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Second World War.

US President Donald Trump (Donald Trump) offered a 30 -day unconditional ceasefire as a step to end the conflict. But Putin is still opposed to this.

« Together with the US, we are calling for Russia to agree on complete and unconditional 30 -day ceasefire to enable negotiations for correct and long -term peace, » the leaders said before the visit.

« We are ready to support peace negotiations as soon as possible, discuss the technical implementation of the ceasefire and prepare for the full peace agreement, » they added.

« It is clear to us that blood casting must end, Russia has to stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to flourish as a safe and sovereign state for generations to come within its international limits, » the statement emphasizes.

« We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine. Until Russia disagrees with long -term ceasefire, we will increase the pressure on the Russian war machine, » it says.

On Saturday, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for ABC Kremlin news channel, said that before Russia’s agreement to break the fire, the supply of weapons from Ukraine’s allies should be terminated.

Otherwise, the ceasefire would be a « advantage of Ukraine » at a time when « Russian soldiers are quite confident (…) ahead, » Peskov said, adding that Ukraine « is not ready for direct negotiations ».

Photo by Scanpix

« Russia interferes with effort »

For Merz, who started his position this week, this is the first visit to Ukraine as a chancellor. Macron did not visit Kyjiv since June 2022, when he went to the Ukrainian capital with the then Italian and German leaders.

During the negotiations with Mr Zelenski, they will express their « strong commitment to Ukraine », the report said.

« We, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, will be in solidarity with Ukraine against the barbaric and illegal Russian wide -scale invasion, » they said.

« We confirm again that we support President Trump’s calls for a peace agreement and encourage Russia to stop trying to prevent long -term peace, » they added.

After a morning meeting with Zelenski, they will hold a virtual meeting to inform other European leaders of actions aimed at creating European forces that could ensure Ukraine’s safety after the war.

Such forces would « help to restore Ukrainian armed forces after any peace agreement and strengthen confidence in any future peace, » the statement said.

“Unity and strength”

On Friday, Macron, who met with Tusk in France, urged the US and the European plan for a 30 -day ceasefire, which would be based on « huge economic sanctions » if one of the countries « issued » it.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb (Alexander Stub) at a meeting in Norway on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine said « the United States has introduced two sanctions packages » and that the parties discuss actions in the banks and energy sectors.

Mr Macron said Putin’s « militant comment » at the Red Square parade showed that he was left on the side of the war. However, he also said that the ceasefire could be negotiated for territories.

Russia has occupied about one -fifth of the territory of Ukraine and has not yet responded to pressure to form a long -term ceasefire. Mr Trump also said that Ukraine would have to consider abandoning the territory, but did not hide his growing dissatisfaction with Russia’s refusal to end the battles.

The visit is held the day after Putin’s Moscow Parade adopted not only Chinese President Xi Jinping (Si Jinping) but also Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose country belongs to the European Union (EU).

One French Presidential Officer, who asked not to mention his name, said that this visit, held just four days after Merz took office, « demonstrates European unity, strength and ability to react. And this reflects Putin’s ceremonies. »