Kyiv/London - Britain will host talks on rebuilding key infrastructure in Kyiv on Friday, a day after the leaders of Germany, France and Italy visited Ukraine and expressed their support for Ukraine on Thursday while meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vowing to back Kyiv’s candidacy to eventually join the European Union and offering more weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion.

Britain on Friday will welcome representatives from Ukraine and business leaders and promote collaboration between its companies in infrastructure, energy and transport, and Ukrainian public and private organisations to help repair damaged and destroyed infrastructure.

During yesterday’s meeting with Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron promised Ukraine six more truck-mounted artillery guns, the latest in a new round of Western arms pledges as the war grinds on in the Donbas region in the east.

France, Germany, Italy and Romania “are doing everything so that Ukraine alone can decide its fate,” Macron said at a news conference with Zelenskyy and the other EU leaders.

Scholz said Germany has taken in 800,000 Ukrainian refugees and would continue to support Ukraine as long as it needed.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi expressed concern about millions of tons of grain backed up in Black Sea ports by the war, saying it could bring “worldwide catastrophe.” Italy has been a first destination for African migrants and could find itself overwhelmed as a result of largescale hunger in the Southern Hemisphere.

President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, which borders Ukraine and has been a key destination for its refugees, arrived on a separate train. He said at the news conference that Romania is facilitating the transit of Ukrainian exports, including grain.

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president who is now deputy head of the Kremlin Security Council, dismissed the European leaders as “connoisseurs of frogs, liver and pasta” and said their visit brought no benefit.

After the news conference, Zelenskyy made a digital appearance at technology shows in Paris, Amsterdam, London and Stockholm as what organizers called a 3D avatar, with his image on a large screen. Wearing a T-shirt inscribed with futuristic fighters and the text “Come to the Dark Side” and “Dominate or Die,” he insisted countries to back what he called a “digital Lend Lease” for Ukraine to bounce back from the war with a “global digital revolution.”

NATO defense ministers met in Brussels meanwhile, to discuss plans for strengthening the military alliance’s eastern borders to dissuade Russia from planning any further aggression.

On the warfront, Ukrainian officials said their troops were holding out against massive Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, and described new progress in a counteroffensive in the south.

But they said battles on both main fronts largely depended on receiving more aid from the West, especially artillery to counter Russia's big advantage in firepower.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said it was important to hear that European leaders “agree the end of the war and peace for Ukraine should be as Ukraine sees them.” He said Ukrainians will continue to fight for all of their land.
-AP/Reuters