Nicholas Tonev (in Kyiv)
While Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron are expected in Brussels for a summit of 27, the Ukrainians are waiting for progress in the promises of European aid. Because the front in the Donbass is fragile and they fear new major attacks before spring.
Brussels is expecting a guest of honor this Thursday. The Ukrainian president is traveling to the capital of Europe for a summit of the 27 members of the European Union. He will be accompanied by Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor. All three dined together at the Élysée on Wednesday evening, after a visit to London for Volodymyr Zelensky. A surprise European tour to hammer home a message: Ukraine needs combat aircraft and as soon as possible.
A matter of weeks
Faced with this European tour, the Ukrainians are concerned. “We don’t have time. We have to act quickly because spring is going to be complicated for us”, they confided to the microphone of Europe 1. With the very tough battle being played out in the Donbass, soldiers and inhabitants feel the urgency to gain the upper hand as soon as possible.
Everything would again hang by a thread against the Russian armies. The front now seems fragile and the morale in the trenches has been consumed over the months, in particular by the significant fear of another massive attack which would come from the north, from neighboring Belarus.
The Ukrainians bring to the conversations this particular feeling of doubt and anguish, which resembles that of last year. “It’s a matter of weeks and no longer months to help us stand up and repel the enemy”, they worry, even if the passive resistance in the Donbass, with the ability to keep the cities alive – like a snub to Moscow – nevertheless seems solid.