"Good to be back in Kyiv. Where the values we hold dear are defended every day. So it is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe. I welcome president Zelenskyy's decision to make 9 May Europe day also here in Ukraine," Ursula von der Leyen.
President von der Leyen is accompanied by a European Newsroom journalist. Before leaving the platform in Kyiv, Mrs Ursula commented on the motives and reasons for her visit.
"I very much welcome president Zelenskyy's decision to declare May 9 as Europe day. Ukraine is part of our European family. My presence in Kyiv today, May 9, is symbolic, but it is also a sign of a very important and very practical reality: the EU works side by side with Ukraine on many issues," the journalist quoted Ursula von der Leyen.
We remind you that Mrs Ursula called Ukrainians the only nation that was killed because they wrapped themselves in the flags of the European Union. The president of the European Commission emphasised that one of the goals of the meeting with Zelenskyy will be to discuss the sanctions the leading states have introduced against Russian aggression and to work out the loopholes through which Russia and other interested parties bypass the sanctions.
"We continue to increase the pressure on Russia. This is one of the points about which I will inform president Zelenskyy. The focus will now be on the strict implementation of sanctions and on taking measures to prevent them from being circumvented. We are determined to close the existing gaps. No one should have any doubts about that."
We remind you that the next, 11th package, is mainly aimed at revising the existing sanctions, finding weak points in the sanctions instructions and bringing to justice those who, through their criminal cooperation with the aggressor, help wage war against Ukraine.
