“The EU stands by Ukraine for as long as necessary”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised Ukraine further long-term and generous support. “The EU stands by Ukraine for as long as necessary,” the German politician wrote on Twitter after her first meeting of the year with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Support Ukraine’s “heroic struggle” for freedom and against the brutal attack. The payment of the 18 billion euros planned for 2023 will begin soon.

Ukraine reported a new success yesterday: 400 Russian soldiers were killed in an airstrike in a shelter in Russian-occupied Donbass. The Russian Ministry of Defense, however, spoke of 63 dead. That Moscow confirmed so many victims at all was very unusual.

While Russia continued its large-scale attacks on Ukraine yesterday, experts expect a ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table in the coming months. The former Bundeswehr and NATO General Hans-Lothar Domröse, for example, expects a ceasefire by early summer at the latest. Then Russia and Ukraine would realize that it made no sense to continue fighting if it was no longer possible to gain ground, said the ex-general.

One solution could be “that Zelenskyy waives the demand to immediately reintegrate areas like Crimea into Ukraine – a transition could be agreed,” just as there was a transitional period of 50 years when Hong Kong was handed over to China. He sees UN head Guterres, Turkish President Erdogan or India’s Prime Minister Modi as possible mediators.