As his soldiers fight in snow-covered trenches and his country’s cities are attacked by Russian missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Ukraine on Friday after a series of diplomatic meetings without major help from the United States and Europe. But the Ukrainian leader returned home with a promise that Ukraine would begin negotiations to join the European Union.
Political infighting in Washington and within the European Union has blocked further aid to Ukraine. On Friday morning, European leaders admitted they would not be able to pass a multi-year aid plan of 50 billion euros, or $54.5 billion, despite Hungary’s objections.
Ukraine relies on foreign aid for about half of its federal budget and for most of the munitions and weapons that support its military, meaning any substantial delay in Western support could harm the country’s ability to fight Russia. Key decisions on aid next year by the United States and the European Union, Ukraine’s two biggest military and financial backers, could now be pushed back until January, even if forces of Kiev remain stuck on the battlefield.
Mr. Zelensky received a glimmer of good news on Thursday when the European Union approved the start of negotiations for Ukraine’s membership in the bloc, a long-held ambition of kyiv as it prepares to align with Western Europe. “Many people in Ukraine are now in a good mood, and that is important, it is a motivation,” he said in his evening speech.
But joining the bloc is a long and demanding process that can take more than a decade, even for Ukraine, which benefited from an accelerated accession process. And kyiv’s failure to secure new aid packages from its allies this week leaves it facing urgent short-term challenges.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, Ukraine’s former economy minister, said he hoped the EU and US would soon approve sending more military and financial aid to kyiv. “Ukraine will hold on,” he said, reflecting the mindset of a majority of Ukrainians who do not believe the West will abandon them.
But Mr. Mylovanov acknowledged that longer deadlines would pose greater challenges for Ukraine to continue its fight against Russia and keep its economy afloat, and as they began the working day Friday, Ukrainians lamented slow progress to gain more support.
“They could help us more right now, but somehow they don’t,” said Svetlana Vasylik, a 29-year-old events manager in central Kiev, stressing that the opening accession negotiations with the European Union would not lead to concrete changes. short term. She said her father, fighting on the front lines, told her that his unit was constantly short of ammunition.
Mr. Zelensky’s struggles contrast with those of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, whose military pushes Ukraine to the front lines and whose economy has mostly resisted Western sanctions. On Thursday, Mr. Putin flashed confidence at his annual news conference, suggesting that the “gifts” from the West that propped up kyiv would soon dry up.
Ukrainian officials have warned that any delay in Western aid would engulf Russia and increase the risk of costly setbacks. This has been a recurring theme in kyiv since the early stages of the war – its allies’ cautious approach to arms supplies put it at a disadvantage against a much stronger enemy – including when Ukraine urged the West to ultimately provide heavy artillery and rockets. year and tanks this year.
Mr Zelensky, whose visit to Washington this week failed to secure a promise of additional aid, said he nevertheless expected the US Congress to “make the necessary decision soon” on a $64 billion military and financial aid program. Republicans have said they would not approve the aid without a commitment from Democrats on immigration policies and security at the U.S. southern border.
Shorter deadlines will not cripple Ukraine’s finances and army. The Pentagon continues to fund the arms transfer in the new year, and previously approved military assistance is arriving. Still, artillery teams along the southeastern front said they had to ration shells.
In the absence of substantial new aid commitments from the West, Zelensky welcomed the European Union’s promise to open negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the bloc, which follows through on promises made shortly after the Russian invasion.
Several residents of kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, described the prospect of European Union membership as good news in an otherwise dark time for the country on Friday morning.
“I feel elated today,” Oleksander Baldiniuk, 43, said Friday morning as he stood near the Golden Gate, a reconstructed gate that marked the entrance to the city in medieval times. “This war is also a psychological war, and it is good for our mood.”
When asked for his reaction, a kyiv resident, in a hurry to go to work, replied: “A Christmas present! »
At the start of Thursday’s meetings, it looked as if the accession negotiations would fail. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, said he would veto the move, arguing that entry would be bad for the bloc. Finally, at the request of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr. Orban left the room, abstaining from the vote and thus paving the way for Ukraine.
But hours later, it was Mr. Orban, seen as President Vladimir V. Putin and Russia’s closest ally in Europe, who blocked a new 50 billion euro aid package for kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday downplayed kyiv’s ambitions to join the bloc and called the decision by European leaders a “completely politicized decision” that could ultimately destabilize it. He said neither Ukraine nor Moldova, which also wants to join, met the required criteria, but added that as the bloc’s European neighbor, Moscow was “watching it closely.”
Many in Ukraine believe that only their country’s integration into the European Union will provide them with guarantees of continued support.
Ukraine’s accession would also present major challenges, including integrating a population whose standard of living is only a fraction of the EU average and dealing with an agricultural powerhouse that could derail the bloc’s common agricultural policy.
Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, said his country now has a “window of opportunity to move forward” and reform the country as quickly as possible before the next national elections in Europe give way. to new governments that may be less willing to integrate. a great, poor and conflict-ridden nation.
After leaving Washington empty-handed, Mr. Zelensky attended a summit of Nordic leaders and received pledges of about $1 billion in military aid from Denmark and new aid from Norway. Mr Zelensky said Finland, Sweden and Spain were preparing further aid. Thursday, Germany announcement that it had handed over a second Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.
Maintaining air defense capabilities is essential for Ukraine’s military and economy to thwart near-night Russian missile and drone attacks that can hamper army logistics and plunge cities into blackout . During the week that Congress and EU leaders were considering aid, Russia fired multiple volleys of explosive drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Falling debris from missiles intercepted by Ukraine’s Western air defenses over kyiv injured dozens of people on Wednesday.
Nathalie Loiseau, chair of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on security and defense, said in an interview that a possible decline in U.S. support had led to a growing “sense of urgency” in Europe to help Ukraine push back Russia. “Strengthening our military assistance to kyiv is what matters,” she said.
European institutions have now committed more than $90 billion in financial, humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. according to data from the Kiel Institute — the largest package, ahead of the United States.
“It’s a security issue for us,” added Ms. Loiseau, stressing that Ukrainian troops were trying to contain an aggressive Russian regime that could one day turn its attention to other European countries. “Ukraine is our security guarantee.”
Alina Lobzina contributed to reporting from London and Daria Mitiuk from Kyiv.
