Ukrainian president pushes to fast-track EU membership
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has become a global icon of defiance in the face of Moscow’s aggression, said that Russia is aiming to erase Ukraine, its history and people, Russian invasion entered a seventh day.
“Another night of Russia’ss full-scale war against us, against the people, has passed,” Zelensky said. ‘We’ve hardly slept for seven nights.”
Referring to the shelling in Kyiv next to Babyn Yar — the site of a World War Two massacre — Zelenskiy said: “This strike proves that for many people in Russia our Kyiv is absolutely foreign.”
“They [the Russians] don’t know a thing about Kyiv, about our history. But they all have orders to erase our history, erase our country, erase us all.”
He also posted a video on Facebook Wednesday in which he praised Ukrainians for being “a symbol of invincibility,” adding that “the whole world” admired his fellow Ukrainians.
- On Tuesday, Ukrainian president received a huge round of applause after addressing the European Parliament by video-link. Zelensky called on EU member states to prove their loyalty to Ukraine and its citizens, who he said were “paying the ultimate price to defend freedom.”
The address by Zelensky comes as Kyiv pushes for fast-track membership in the bloc. “This is no time to be neutral,” said Zelenskiy,, calling for more international support, including backing Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.
Zelensky has officially signed the application to join the European Union Monday after asking the bloc to move swiftly to admit Ukraine as a member.
