Day 351: Zelenskyy Addresses EU Summit, Fighting Rages Around Bakhmut

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Facts

• On Thursday, during a summit of EU leaders, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked European countries for helping Ukraine while urging them to send more weapons to help Kyiv's forces. It came as the Kremlin responded to Zelenskyy's visit to the UK that took place the previous day, stating Ukraine would suffer if Western nations sent it fighter jets.¹
• In his address, Zelenskyy said that a victory for Ukraine would be a victory for European values. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also posted a photo of himself and Pres. Zelenskyy with the caption: “Welcome home, welcome to the EU' via Twitter.²
• Meanwhile, Russian officials have called Zelenskyy 'pompous' and 'hypocritical' for traveling through Europe to rally support for Ukraine. UK PM Rishi Sunak said 'nothing is off the table' regarding assistance to the war effort in Ukraine, adding that fighter jets 'are part of the conversation.'³
• Zelenskyy's visit comes as fighting has intensified in the country's east, particularly around the city of Bakhmut. Russian forces are slowly making progress around Bakhmut and are reportedly preparing for a new offensive across the east — Ukraine has said it will not give up the city.⁴
• Elsewhere, SpaceX's president Gwynne Shotwell said on Wednesday that the company, which has provided Ukraine's military with broadband communications, is seeking to prevent Ukraine from using the Starlink satellite internet service for drone operations in the country.⁵
• In other news, Ukraine has denounced Roger Waters — a lead member of Pink Floyd — following his speech at the UN Security Council at Russia’s invitation. Waters said that Russia's actions regarding Ukraine were illegal, but he added that the nation was provoked and said he condemned the provocateurs.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Guardian (a), ³Sky News, ⁴CNBC, ⁵Reuters and ⁶Guardian (b).

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by PBS NewsHour. This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after an election a 'coup'. This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by National Security Archive. NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.

Predictions