Zelenskyy calls for fast path to join EU

The European Union will unveil its 10th package of sanctions against Russia on Feb. 24 to mark the anniversary of Moscow’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine, a senior official from the bloc said in Kyiv on Friday, as Ukrainian forces gird for an expected Russian offensive in the coming weeks.

The sanctions will target technology used by Russia’s war machine, among other things, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference.

The sanctions will take aim in particular at components used in the manufacturing of drones, she said, naming Iran as a key supplier of Russia.

Closing loopholes that the Kremlin uses to circumvent sanctions will also be a priority, according to Von der Leyen, who was on her fourth visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war began.

The exact measures in the next EU sanctions package must be agreed upon by the bloc’s 27 member countries — a process that can take weeks.

Top EU officials met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of support for the country as it battles to counter the Kremlin’s forces and strives to join the EU as well as NATO.

The last such summit was held in Kyiv in October 2021 — a few months before the war started. The highly symbolic visit is also the first EU political mission of its kind to a country at war.

The high-level meeting came as a 60-year-old man was killed and six others were wounded Friday when Russian missiles hit central Toretsk, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Facebook.

Ukrainian authorities reported Friday that at least six civilians were killed and 20 others were wounded over the previous 24 hours.

European officials were adamant about continuing to support Ukraine militarily and economically, but they didn’t provide any new details about Ukraine’s accession path to the EU.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s goal “is to start negotiations this year.” But the process will likely take years and require the adoption of farreaching reforms, including a clampdown on endemic corruption as the country receives billions of dollars in aid. Kyiv formally submitted its application last June.

Zelenskyy said progress had been made to further integrate Ukraine economically into the EU across several sectors, including agriculture, industry, energy and customs.

The U.S announced Friday it will send longer-range bombs to Ukraine, along with air defense systems and other weapons and ammunition as part of a new $2.17 billion (U.S.) aid package. The rocketpropelled, GPS-guided, groundlaunched, small-diameter bombs (GLSDB) are fired from HIMARS rocket launchers and glide to targets up to 150 kilometres away, twice as far as the previously supplied U.S. rockets for HIMARS systems could reach.

France and Italy also agreed Friday to supply Ukraine with a SAMP/T-MAMBA air-defense system, which French officials call the European equivalent of the Patriot system that the U.S. has given Ukraine. The missile battery is slated for delivery this spring.

Officials in the eastern Luhansk region said Russian forces have disabled mobile internet connections, stepped up shelling and deployed more troops in preparation for an offensive.