The EU executive recommended on 17 June that Ukraine and Moldova become candidates for membership, a milestone in their potential path from former Soviet republics to developed economies into the world’s largest trading bloc. If the European Commission’s decision is ratified at a summit next week, it would be a morale booster for Kyiv and a further western swoon for Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter that the bravery of Ukrainians gave Europe the opportunity to “create a new history of independence, and finally remove the gray zone in Eastern Europe between the EU and Russia”. As diplomacy with Brussels progressed, intense fighting continued in the area east of the Donbass, where Russia seeks to consolidate and expand recent gains, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to the capital, Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked the West, particularly the United States, in a complaint-filled speech in St. Petersburg, but sought to downplay the EU issue. “We have nothing against it,” he said. “It is not a military bloc. It is the right of any country to join an economic union.”
Britain
Russian military renews bid to advance south of Ukraine’s Izium, Britain says
Britain’s Defense Ministry said on June 18 that Russia may have renewed its efforts to advance south of Ukraine’s eastern city of Izium in the past 48 hours.
Its goal is to penetrate deeper into the Donetsk region and encircle the pockets around the embattled city of Severodnetsk from the north, it said on Twitter.
The ministry said that if the stranded Ukrainian citizens do not take up the offer to move through the corridor, Russia could claim justification for bridging the gap between them and any Ukrainian military targets in the region. , Reuters
Ukraine
Zelensky commends EU support in the form of heavy shelling on the Donbass
President Volodymyr Zelensky described Brussels’ support for Ukraine’s EU bid as a historic achievement, as his country’s eastern Donas region faced intense Russian shelling. Brussels made a powerful show of European solidarity on Friday by backing Kyiv’s bid for EU candidate status, an endorsement that could see Ukraine add to a list of countries vying for membership as early as next week.
The European Commission is set to meet at its Brussels summit on Thursday, with all 27 leaders already backing Kyiv’s candidacy and the heads of the bloc’s biggest members – France, Germany and Italy – giving full support to the idea. Have given. , AFP
America
Russian state TV broadcasts videos of two missing Americans in Ukraine
A Russian state TV channel broadcast videos on social media of two Americans who went missing while fighting with the Ukrainian military last week, saying they were captured by Russian forces.
United States President Joe Biden said earlier on Friday that he did not know the whereabouts of Alexander Drucke and Andy Huynh, both US military veterans whose relatives lost contact with the pair.
The missing Americans – including a third identified as a former US Marine captain – are believed to be part of an undisclosed number of military veterans who joined other foreigners to volunteer with Ukrainian soldiers. Huh. , AFP
Ukraine
Deadly airstrikes on Ukraine’s border town ready for street war
A local resident walks in front of a building destroyed by a military attack, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues on June 17, 2022 in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, Ukraine. , photo credit: Reuters
Smoke rose from the cultural center after Russian airstrikes spread ashes to the war-ravaged eastern Ukrainian city of Lisichansk on June 17, killing four people taking refuge there. As the embattled city prepares for a possible street war, Russian troops battle Ukrainian troops in the city of Severodonetsk, across the river.
Thursday’s bombing sparked a fire that spread overnight at the blue-and-white Stalin-era Diamante Palace of Culture and was still burning on Friday. The building also housed a library and post office as well as a stage for arts events. After the war began, it became a bomb shelter by the local people and a temporary shelter for those who lost their homes. , AFP
Germany
German leader said, it is necessary to keep talking to Putin
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that it is “absolutely necessary” for some leaders to speak directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and that he and the French president will continue to do so.
Mr. Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have had several telephonic conversations with Mr. Putin, both individually and simultaneously, since the Russian offensive began. Those contacts have drawn some criticism – including from Poland’s president, who recently said they achieve nothing and only serve to legitimize the Russian leader.
“It is absolutely necessary to talk to Mr Putin, and I will continue to do so – as will the French president,” Mr Scholz told the German news agency. DPA In an English-language video interview a day later he, Mr Macron and the leaders of Italy and Romania held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. , AP
Russia
Putin says ‘nothing’ against Ukraine joining EU
Russia has “nothing” against Ukraine’s possible membership of the European Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday after the European Commission recommended the 27-member bloc’s Kyiv candidate status.
“We have nothing against it. Whether or not to join economic unions is their sovereign decision… It’s their business, the business of the Ukrainian people,” Mr. Putin told Russia’s annual economic performance, the St. Petersburg International Economic told the forum. , AFP
Ukraine
EU Commission endorses candidate status for Ukraine
The EU’s executive branch on Friday recommended that Ukraine be given candidate status to one day join the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission’s recommendation is the first step on the long road toward membership and comes a day after four EU leaders vowed to support Kyiv’s candidacy. The recommendation will be discussed by the leaders of the 27-nation bloc during a summit next week in Brussels. Initiating accession negotiations requires unanimous approval from all member states.