Von der Leyen, Meloni, Trudeau and De Croo arrived in Kiev together to support Zelensky and pay tribute to those killed on the second anniversary of the invasion.

Two years of war, of pain, of hundreds of thousands of victims, Millions of displaced people and countless destruction. Two years of horrors, barbaric crimes, brutality in the occupied territories and incalculable losses. Two years of sustained, determined, and even surprising support for Ukraine from the United States and Europe. Two years of sanctions against Moscow, economic warfare, rivalries across the geopolitical board and realignment of alliances. In two years the West certainly did not do everything it could, and hesitated, failed on several occasions, but in which It went beyond anyone’s dreams, All conceivable red lines were crossed and the attacker was confronted in a way that was not done in 2008 or 2014.

Today, February 24, Ukraine remembers and honors its dead with sadness, helplessness and great anger, and it does not do so alone. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived in Kiev this Saturday, her seventh visit since the invasion, not to reach out, but to hold the hands of her neighbors and, perhaps, future Community partners. It doesn’t come alone. He is also accompanied by the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, whose country holds the temporary presidency of the EU Council. Italian Giorgia Meloni, who currently holds the presidency of the G7 and who, in fact, will be leading a videoconference meeting with world leaders from here this afternoon. And also with Canadian Justin Trudeau, as a symbol of transatlantic support.

“My trip to Kyiv is in this Second anniversary of the Russian invasion war, And I have come to respect the extraordinary resistance of the brave Ukrainian people. We have recently made important announcements about financial support for Ukraine, but it is also important to express our moral support,” von der Leyen told a group of Brussels correspondents, including this newspaper, who accompanied her. On their agenda, tribute to the guards of the capital’s airport, private ceremonies, delivery of special vehicles to collect evidence that document Russian war crimes and meetings at the highest level with local officials.

The situation at the front is very difficult, Political doubts are growing and even Kiev’s biggest hope, the start of EU accession talks, has been delayed and complicated. This is one of the most delicate moments, and the foreign and defense ministers of the EU, but also of NATO, do not hide their concern. Russia, which seemed to be sinking in 2022, seems to be gaining momentum again, receiving support from North Korea, Iran or China and seems to be regrouping and reorganizing.

These days there is a race to try it in Europe Increase production of arms and ammunition, There are promises but they are not implemented, not at the expected or committed level. The aspiration is to have one million drones and one million projectiles that are most commonly used in the defense sector, but for this to happen, production will have to be scaled up and truly transform war manufacturing economies.

There are countries that continue to boycott every step, such as Hungary, which these days has vetoed even a simple EU statement for the anniversary of the invasion. Forcing something that citizens do not pay attention to, but the international community does pay attention to, a statement by the Presidents of the three Community institutions (Commission, Council, Parliament), which are less powerful in the hierarchy.

This journey is not for negotiation, it is essentially for negotiation symbolic, political, geopolitical, We are here, we do not give up, we continue. But it’s full of edges. This week, von der Leyen raised eyebrows when she said she hoped to have a framework in place to begin talks with Ukraine by the summer after the European elections. The Commission will make its request in March, but then the ball will be in the hands of governments It will not be possible for this to happen before the legislature ends. The German said this would be impossible before the European elections. And this is a specific problem, because in June the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU ends and the Hungarian presidency begins, which will thus, among many other things, be in charge of starting the process. The wolf guards the sheep.

In these two years the European Union has contributed even more 88,000 million euros Support for Ukraine and Ukrainians, according to the Commission’s calculations. Almost half of them are in financial, budgetary support and humanitarian assistance. One of the milestones has been managing to export more than 120 tons of goods (and import another 45 million of them) through the so-called solidarity lines, land routes allowing the country’s crops to go into the world’s breadbasket. is one of. They will reach their destination. But this backfired and this week Polish farmers blocked the border demanding compensation. By the way, a part of them buys and repeats the Kremlin’s messages with surprising and worrying coordination.

Ukraine has achieved reclaim important land in the Black Sea, That would allow maritime export routes to resume, but would be important to quell dissent ahead of the European elections. Von der Leyen will hear requests from Zelensky, who is now awaiting the first delivery of additional aid after 27 countries agreed earlier this month to an arrangement of up to $50 billion over the next four years.