Zelenski insists EU give him planes and long-range missiles

Ukraine's President Volodymir Zelenski on Thursday called on European Union (EU) leaders to give him modern aircraft and long-range missiles, because otherwise the war will drag on, European sources explained.  

Zelenski spoke by videoconference at the summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels today and tomorrow, the eighth time he has taken part in a meeting with European leaders since the invasion began, and he did so from a train on his way to eastern Ukraine. During his speech, he welcomed the agreement reached this week by the EU to speed up the delivery of one million howitzers to Ukraine over the next twelve months, but at the same time, he called for the delivery of Leopard tanks to be speeded up.  

So far, Slovakia has already delivered four fighters out of the thirteen it has promised to Kiev, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad announced today, and Poland announced the delivery of another four aircraft.  

Zelenski also called on the EU to approve a new package of sanctions against Russia and not to apply exceptions to those already adopted, as the EU did in December, to authorise payments to Russian oligarchs to facilitate the sale of wheat to developing countries.  

The Ukrainian president also called today for EU accession negotiations to begin and for there to be no delays in his peace plan, which the EU has endorsed.  

Several European leaders today called on China to engage in dialogue with Ukraine if it really wants to broker an end to the war. Among them, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who said that on his next trip to China on 30 and 31 March he will convey to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that peace in Ukraine must involve respect for the territorial integrity of this country and that it is the Ukrainians who must set the conditions.  

The Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, defended sending arms to Kiev because, according to the UN Charter, "it has the right to defend itself", and warned China that "supporting the aggressor is going in the opposite direction", following the recent meeting in Moscow between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The European Union on Thursday reaffirmed its "full" support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and condemned the "illegal" threat received from Russia following Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. 

"The EU reaffirms its full support for the ICC. Any retaliatory measures against those involved in the work of the ICC are unacceptable. In leading the fight against impunity, the ICC must be able to work independently and impartially," EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement today. 

The ICC recently received threats following the issuing of international arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights, for the illegal deportation of children and their transfer from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. 

It is, Borrell said, an "illegal threat" issued by "a senior Russian representative to use force against the International Criminal Court", based in The Hague, "and its host country, the Netherlands". The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs referred to statements made by the Vice-President of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who said three days ago that "the precise use of a hypersonic Onyx missile launched by a Russian ship from the North Sea against the seat of the Court in The Hague is entirely conceivable". 

The former Russian president from 2008 to 2012 added that the ICC "is just a miserable organisation" and if attacked no one will start a war because "they will be afraid". "We are all at the mercy of God and missiles", he added on his Telegram channel. 

In response, Borrell stressed today that the EU remains committed to defending the Court from "any external interference aimed at obstructing the course of justice and undermining the international criminal justice system".  

From the outset, the Kremlin has been adamant in rejecting as "legally null and void" any ICC decision, as it does not recognise its jurisdiction, nor has it ratified the Rome Statute to become a member of the court. "The EU will continue to advocate for the universality of the Rome Statute and will invite all states that have not yet done so to consider joining the ICC to end impunity for the most serious crimes," Borrell concluded.