Day 344: EU Leaders Arrive For Talks in Kyiv

Facts

• A delegation of 15 EU officials — including Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen and the bloc's top foreign policy chief Josep Borrell — arrived in Kyiv for two days of talks on Thursday. Discussions are set to focus on military aid, reconstruction efforts, and Ukraine's EU accession aspirations.
• So far, Borrell has announced that the EU plans to double the number of Ukrainian troops that will be trained by the bloc, taking the figure to 30K. A €25M ($27.5M) demining initiative has also been announced.
• Meanwhile, Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov warned of the possibility that new Russian offensives may coincide with the one-year anniversary of the war later this month. He alleged that Russia had mobilized 500K troops — 200K more than had publicly been stated — and that Ukrainian intelligence had observed these newly-mobilized troops massing at the Russia-Ukraine border.
• Elsewhere, in a wide-ranging TV interview, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov alleged that the US was directly involved in explosions that severely damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea last year. Lavrov did not provide evidence to substantiate the claims.
• He further alleged that was the West was trying to turn Moldova, Georgia, and former Soviet states against Moscow, adding that Russia wanted to end the conflict but that the nation was responding to the US. He further stated that, if Ukraine were to receive long-range weapons, Russia would "have to push them back from territories which are part of our country.”
• On the ground, an overnight Russian attack on the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk killed three civilians and injured 22 more — searches under the rubble are continuing. Kramatorsk was again shelled on Thursday, with reports of an unspecified number of additional civilian casualties at this stage. Two civilians were also reportedly killed and two more were injured in Russian attacks on the Kherson region over the past day.

Sources: Ukrinform(a), France 24, Ukrainska Pravda, Al Arabiya English, and Ukrinform(b).

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Atlantic. Ukrainians have fought not only for their own country but also for all of Europe, reminding the alliance why it was founded in the first place. It's only right that the EU opens its doors to Ukraine.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Unherd. If Ukraine were to join the EU, it would only further complicate the country's relations Russia and draw the world even nearer to a global conflict. The West should resist being so blindly positive about Kyiv's potential bloc candidacy.

Predictions