At the 21st annual Ukraine – European Union summit, taking place in Kyiv on July 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky focused on how to get Russia to stop its war on Ukraine and how to rebuild the war-ravaged Donbas. Zelensky gave Kremlin-backed insurgents eight days to dismantle barriers so the Ukrainian side could begin constructing a bridge connecting Russian-occupied Luhansk, a southeast provincial capital with 420,000 people, to mainland Ukraine.
“Withdrawal of troops (by Ukraine’s army and Russia-backed insurgents) near Stanytsia Luhanska is completed, now we expect the barricades to be dissolved and a bridge over the river to be built,” said Zelensky during a press conference in Mariinsky Palace, standing alongside European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.
The bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska, a city of 13,000 people located 20 kilometers east of Luhansk, would be a major step forward in fulfilling the Minsk Agreements, says Zelesnkiy.
The agreements signed in Minsk in 2015 was supposed to pave way for establishing peace and bringing parts of Donbas occupied by Russia-backed insurgents under Ukraine’s jurisdiction.
The bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska, before being destroyed by artillery in 2015, held a checkpoint allowing people from Luhansk to cross into Ukraine controlled territory and vice versa.
On July 7, Tusk and Zelensky visited Stanytsia Luhanska, inspecting the process of bilateral withdrawal of weaponry and troops. Zelensky said the rolling back of troops gives him a fragile hope for peace.
During the press conference in Mariinsky Palace, Tusk said that the European Union will continue its support of Ukraine and will prolong sanctions against Russia.
“I was glad to hear from our European friends that their position on Russia remains clear and unchanged: sectoral and Crimean sanctions will be extended for the next 12 and 6 months respectively,” said Zelensky.
In the summit statement, Ukrainian and EU leaders insist that Russia must take responsibility for shooting down the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
The Joint Investigation Team, led by the Netherlands Ministry of Justice, on June 19 concluded that Russia-backed separatists shot down the plane, most of whose victims were Dutch citizens. After the tragedy, Russia helped cover-up the crime, the JIT report reads.
“We expect the prosecution of the perpetrators of this tragedy to be effective and call on the Russian Federation to acknowledge its responsibility and cooperate fully to restore justice,” the statement reads.
Among other items, five bilateral agreements were signed on July 8. The EU pledged to finance anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine, support transparency at the local level and provide financial assistance to Ukraine’s east.
A total of 120 million euros was directed towards these issues by the EU.
Talking about EU support of Ukraine’s war-torn east, Zelensky promised to hold an investment summit in September in Mariupol, a city of 450,000 people in Donetsk Oblast located 750 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, with potential investors invited to help rebuild Donbas.
“We proposed a one-year term, I very much hope that in a year we will no longer have this war,” said Zelensky.
