For the first time in history, Ukraine took part in the summit as a candidate for joining the EU.

In her remarks, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphasized that ‘only one year ago, no one could have imagined how fast Ukraine could move towards the European Union’. Due to tragic circumstances, the situation has changed, and as President von der Leyen noted, “Today, we have come to the heart of Europe. Because Ukraine has become the centre of our continent. The place where our values are upheld, where our freedom is defended, where the future of Europe is written”.

The EU high-ranking officials brought a clear message to Kyiv – Ukraine will be a member of the European Union, but it still needs to make its way.

‘The goal is for Ukraine to prevail against its aggressor. But we cannot wish for that end without giving Ukraine the means to achieve it. The alternative is a prolonged war of attrition, leading to more deaths in Ukraine, greater insecurity for Europe, and continued suffering around the world’, said the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrel, regarding the conditions for Ukraine’s victory and the role of the EU and partners in making this victory happen.

On February 2, a day before the landmark EU-Ukraine Summit in Kyiv, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for work towards the start of Ukraine’s accession negotiations to the European Union. The resolution was supported by 489 MEPs, 49 abstained, and 36 voted against. Such a division of opinion is inspiring, but it should make Ukraine think more whether the negotiations will begin and whether they will reach the desired outcome for Ukraine to join the EU, since it depends only on the country’s success in the reforms. The European Union will provide all the necessary support, but the time for drafts is over, and Ukraine must successfully pass this exam.

The EU will continue to provide military support to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility and is also ready to provide additional €45 million for ‘non-lethal equipment’ for the Ukrainian military training mission.

In a nutshell, at the turn of 2022-2023, a pivotal moment has come in the approaches of our Western partners to military support to Ukraine. Whereas, before December 2022, the only heavy armoured vehicles transferred to Ukraine had exclusively been the Soviet-era BMP-1 and T-72 and their modifications from the Eastern European nations, one would not see them in the latest military assistance packages anymore. Ukraine is switching to NATO weaponry. Both the quantities of weapons and their supply pace have undergone significant changes.

As the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated at the press conference following the Special Meeting of the European Council in early February, the 10th package of sanctions will cost the Russian Federation more than €10 billion.

On February 25, the package was approved and entered into force. Restrictive measures are introduced, in particular, for goods that are almost irreplaceable and cannot be sourced from anywhere else. The imposed sanctions target 121 individuals and legal entities, including those responsible for the deportation and forced adoption of at least 6,000 Ukrainian children, as well as propagandist Russian media.

More than a million Ukrainians have already joined the Government’s Lamp Exchange Programme supported by the EU. Another 2.2 million energy-saving bulbs were ordered for exchange through the Diia App.

The European Union provided 35 million light bulbs for exchange, France added another 5 million, and in total – 50 million archaic bulbs will be replaced to save up to 1 gigawatt of electricity. This programme is a component of the EU support for Ukraine’s energy front and countering the devastating Russian aggression.