Draghi Macron and Scholz in Kyiv Today they meet Zelensky

Draghi, Macron and Scholz in Kyiv: Today they meet Zelensky

After leaving the train in the evening under very high security precautions, they meet Zelenskyy today. The unprecedented role of Italy The Ukrainian government: ‘Don’t come and propose Minsk 3’

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Kyiv They landed at eight o’clock in the evening in Rzeszw, Poland, a civilian airport but littered with NATO artillery, military cargo that takes off and arrives several times a day. Then they start the night journeys, in different carriages, but on the same train. About a hundred secret agents from the three different countries are distributed in the convoy that leaves Polish territory, enters Ukraine to reach the capital at ten in the morning.

A security network of at least 300 Ukrainian soldiers is waiting for Mario Draghi, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, integrated into a prevention and information exchange network that also includes military special forces from the three European countries. On Wednesday, just before 11 a.m., the three delegations walk 300 meters to the train station in Medyka, the border between Poland and Ukraine, where a train is waiting for them on the tracks, another train runs empty and follows it in case of emergency , breakdowns or unforeseen events .

At half past eleven Draghi goes with Macron and Scholz to the middle of the convoy: There the leaders sit, surrounded by heavy curtains, around a table in front of a glass of water with ice for an impromptu summit meeting that lasts until two o’clock. o’clock at night. The Italian Prime Minister, the French President and the German Chancellor arrive in Kyiv bringing a message of solidarity and support for Zelenskyy, but also of European unification, which is a complete success for the Union: the Old Continent that has shone cohesion in some dossiers, less so in others, is being presented to the Ukrainian government for the first time after more than three and a half months of war, with the three most important leaders.

During next week’s European Council, he, along with the other 24 heads of state or government, must provide a necessary and urgent response to Ukraine’s numerous requests to apply to join the EU. Draghi, Macron and Scholz will have partly the same, partly converging, partly different programs. All three will certainly hold a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hold talks with various members of the government and visit Irpin.

The trip was prepared by the diplomats from Rome, Berlin and Paris for several weeks: the agenda stuck, the three leaders will stay in the Ukrainian capital for most of the day; security needs integrated into the Ukrainian army; the programs in which organizations and parts of civil society are also involved. The three European leaders come to talk about the most urgent dossiers: other military aid, possible negotiations on wheat, Kiev’s candidacy for EU membership but also the country’s reconstruction, estimates of a territory’s medium and long-term needs in some cases almost completely destroyed.

The visit is also the commitment of a European hard core, which for the first time since Britain left the Union is advancing in a coordinated manner ahead of what appears to be a historic date. The day will have a high symbolic value, it may not bring any concrete results and nobody is under any illusions about this, but in any case it will have an implication and a political resonance that will mark the history of this conflict. It is also a not indifferent success for Italy, which for the first time fully fits into a two-pronged axis that has existed for many years: the EU government tandem, now expanding in the presence of Rome, is a record of our institutions with pride. Among the dossiers discussed will also be that of food safety: another study is being conducted on the possibility of unblocking the sea routes blocked in Odessa for grain and other Ukrainian seeds.

But Turkey’s previous role in trying to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv is also being discussed with Zelenskyy: Should we insist on Ankara’s diplomatic skills? That will be one of the questions the four leaders will attempt to answer. Today’s visit was preceded by a minor, perhaps instrumental, controversy by Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleskjy Arestovych: he expressed fears that Mario Draghi, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron will be pushing for a ceasefire in the country during their upcoming visit to Kyiv. “I’m afraid they will try to achieve some kind of Minsk 3.”

A number that, beyond the controversy, confirms how difficult it is at the moment to imagine a solution or the start of negotiations. In any case, Macron said on the eve of the visit: “We, as the European Union, must send clear political signals to Ukraine, which has been heroically resisting for months, a message all the more important as next week we have to make important decisions on the meet European Council’.

June 15, 2022 (change June 16, 2022 | 08:55)