Volodimir Zelensky says that this is not the time for emotions ("emotions died on February 24") but to be "very practical and pragmatic" but, this Thursday, in his first visit to Brussels since the start of the war, the leader The Ukrainian made use of his well-known communication skills and persuasive skills to convey three key messages to Europe: his country's gratitude for the support received, the need to open accession negotiations to the European Union this year to keep the morale of his country high army and, finally, the seriousness of the current moment and the need to speed up arms shipments.
“We have to be faster than Russia”, “we are containing the attack but now we have to win”, said Zelenski after participating for the first time personally in a European Council. His country, he argued, not only fights to defend itself but also for the values and freedom of Europe, "our common home", the one that Russia wants to destroy by all possible means, because its ambitions "do not end in Ukraine". Zelensky revealed that they have intercepted a plan by Russian intelligence services to attack Moldova. "There will be no free Europe without a free Ukraine," he insisted.
"We need artillery, ammunition, modern tanks, long-range missiles and modern air capabilities," recalled the Ukrainian leader. "Several countries" have already offered to send planes to Ukraine, Zelensky said, after London announced Thursday that it will start training Ukrainian pilots, in addition to "positive messages" from other governments. "I have no right to return to Ukraine without results," he said.
"We are prepared to take the necessary decisions so that peace and prosperity once again become the values that illuminate Europe," the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, assured him. “We did not tell him to come so that he would have a platform but to make decisions. Words are not enough, what matters are the military capabilities to repel the aggression. We are very aware that more needs to be done in terms of military aid and it will be done,” he assured.
Zelenski put him on the spot in public, before the press, to try to wrest his support for the opening of accession negotiations in December, when Brussels presents its first assessment of Ukraine's progress since it was declared a candidate country in June last year. . “We need it to motivate our military and we need it this year. When I say this year, Charles, I mean this year, 2023," Zelenski told him in English, drawing laughter from the room. "We'll do everything we can," Michel replied.
"This all-out Russian war is not a war for a territory of a part of Europe," Putin "wants to destroy all elements of the European way of life," Zelensky said. “We fight against the most anti-European force in the world”, “we defend ourselves and we defend you”. “If Ukraine falls, Europe falls”, warned Zelensky, who was interrupted several times by applause, cheers and chants of Slava Ukraini! .
“This applause is not for me, it is for the people of Europe who support Ukraine in this historic battle,” he said, emphasizing that “everyone” – and especially ordinary citizens – “can influence the victory of Ukraine” with their daily actions. The European Parliament is the institution that directly represents European citizenship and Zelenski focused his speech on it, on the people. After almost a year of war, it is necessary to keep morale high in Ukraine but also among European public opinion.
