EU backs Ukraine’s ‘European dream’ as Russia cuts gas supplies

GBNews24 Desk//

Europe sent a powerful symbol of solidarity with Ukraine on Friday as Brussels backed Kyiv’s bid for EU candidate status — a decision Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “nothing against”.

With the European Commission’s backing, Ukraine could join the list of countries vying for membership as early as next week, when member state leaders meet at their Brussels summit.

All 27 leaders have to agree to the candidacy, but the heads of the bloc’s biggest members — France, Germany and Italy — gave full-throated support to the idea on Thursday, on a trip to a war-torn Kyiv suburb.

On Friday, the European Commission gave formal backing to the bid, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen made her position clear by donning a striking jacket in Ukraine’s national colours.

“We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us for the European dream,” she said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately welcomed the decision as a “first step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our victory closer”.

He said he expected that EU leaders would give Ukraine a “positive result” at the June 23-24 summit.

Putin said Russia had “nothing against” Ukraine joining the EU, saying it was “their sovereign decision to join economic unions or not” — unlike the security risk he sees in Kyiv joining NATO.

But he said membership of the European Union would turn Ukraine into a “semi-colony” of the West.

Russia had earlier said the West was “manipulating” Ukraine with promises of integration.

As Brussels celebrated their breakthrough, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to Kyiv for his second visit since Russia’s February 24 invasion.

Downing Street said Johnson offered to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days and “change the equation of the war”.