President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged European leaders to step up their support for Ukraine at an unprecedented summit in Moldova, a small country that also lives in fear of Russian aggression.

Nearly 50 European leaders gathered just 20 km from the Ukrainian border to send a message of support to these two former Soviet republics, as a new airstrike hit Kiev early Thursday morning, killing at least three people including one child.

At the same time, Moscow claimed that Ukrainian forces had tried to “invade” the Russian region of Belgorod and carried out heavy strikes which left eleven injured, notably in the border town of Chebekino.

The Ukrainian President took advantage of the platform offered by the second meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) to plead forcefully in favor of his country’s accession to NATO and the EU.

“Every doubt we manifest is a trench that Russia will try to occupy,” he said. “All European countries which have a border with Russia and which do not want Russia to take part of their territory from them must be full members of NATO and the EU”, he continued. .

The heads of diplomacy of the countries of the Atlantic Alliance were also gathered Thursday in Oslo to discuss possible responses to kyiv’s application for membership.

Volodymyr Zelensky again called on his allies to provide more combat aircraft and air defense systems. “It’s difficult for us today because we don’t have modern fighter jets and that’s why Russia dominates the skies,” he said.

The CPE summit, held at Mimi Castle, a winery in the village of Bulboaca, “showed that we are a strong and united family”, said Moldovan President Maia Sandu who is also knocking on the door of the EU . Moldova “is irreversibly committed to joining the European Union”, she said.

As during its first edition in Prague in October, the summit gave rise to a “family photo”, this time with a notable absentee, Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan, re-elected on Sunday but who did not make the shift.

Taken in this village near Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist region of 300,000 inhabitants in the east of the country, the photo is intended as a symbol of Putin’s isolation on the continent.

“We want to send a strong message of unity against Putin’s war in Ukraine,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

A much larger gathering than the EU (20 countries were invited in addition to the 27 members of the bloc), the CPE, imagined by French President Emmanuel Macron, brings together states with very different profiles and backgrounds: Armenia, Georgia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Serbia, Azerbaijan…

“Putin’s Russia has excluded itself from this community by launching this war against Ukraine”, underlined the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

The CPE is also the occasion for some bilateral discussions or in restricted formats between leaders.

Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz were able to bring together Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani to try to lower tensions in northern Kosovo.

The French president and the German chancellor have called for the organization of new elections in disputed municipalities in northern Kosovo, the scene of recent clashes.

The two leaders also organized a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to advance negotiations aimed at ending their conflict.

Yerevan and Baku have been battling for decades for control of the Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh populated mainly by Armenians.

“Our Europe needs to settle conflicts, it is a necessity for our collective security”, commented Emmanuel Macron, considering that the second summit of the European Political Community had made it possible to “demonstrate the strength of this format”, which he launched the idea.

A third EPC summit is scheduled for October in Granada (Spain) and a fourth in the first half of 2024 in the UK.

01/06/2023 20:22:53 – Bulboaca (Moldova) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP