Ukraine president’s plea to EU: prove that you are with us

Volodymyr Zelenskiy in passionate videolink address to European parliament amid Russian invasion

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to the EU to “prove that you are with us” and help “light win over darkness” in a passionate address to the European parliament after Ukraine’s membership application.

In the speech made by videolink from Kyiv on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said his people, including those killed by missile strikes on Tuesday in the country’s second city, Kharkiv, were sacrificing their lives for European ideals in the fight against the invading Russian forces.

“Nobody’s going to break us. We’re strong, we’re Ukrainians. We have a desire to see our children alive, I think it is a fair one,” Zelenskiy said. “We are fighting for survival. We are fighting to be equal members of Europe.”

He added: “We are exactly the same as you are. So do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine”.

The appeal came as France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, declared that the EU was “waging an all-out economic and financial war on Russia”, describing the sanctions packages as proving “extremely effective”.

He told France Info radio. “We will cause the collapse of the Russian economy.”

The comments drew an angry response from Russia’s former president and prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chair of the security council of the Russian Federation.

He tweeted: “Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don’t forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.”

In Geneva, a number of diplomats walked out of the room when Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, addressed the UN human rights council via a pre-recorded video message, after a similar boycott of his speech at the nearby Conference on Disarmament.

Diplomats gathered outside the Conference on Disarmament hall in front of a Ukrainian flag and applauded loudly. The applause could be heard in the chamber where Lavrov’s speech continued, with only a handful of ambassadors from countries including Yemen, Syria, Venezuela and Tunisia there to hear it.

Ukraine’s envoy to the EU on Tuesday formally handed over a request for membership of the European Union to the French ambassador, whose country holds the rolling presidency.

Addressing MEPs, and Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, presidents of the European Commission and council respectively, Zelenskiy said the EU was “going to be much stronger with us, that’s for sure. Without you, Ukraine is going to be lonesome.”

The impassioned appeal received a cautiously positive welcome from the two leaders of the EU’s institutions as they took the podium at the front of the parliament’s hemicycle.

“The council (of EU governments) will have to seriously look at the symbolic, political and legitimate request that has been made and make the appropriate choice in a determined and clear-headed manner,” Michel said.

Von der Leyen said there was a “long path ahead”. “We have to end this war,” she said. “And we should talk about the next steps. But I am sure: nobody in this hemicycle can doubt that a people that stands up so bravely for our European values belongs in our European family.”

The path to membership will require the commission to give a positive assessment as to Ukraine’s potential candidature, a process that can take up to 18 months. There would then be a transitional period of indefinite length during which Ukraine would need to adopt the entirety of EU law.

Slovenia and Poland have called on EU member states to take “quick and courageous decisions” to ensure that Ukraine can join the EU by 2030. But there is some scepticism in other capitals about the wisdom of further expansion.

Zelenskiy told MEPs he was speaking to them between Russian bombardments. “You know, I don’t read off the paper, off the sheet,” he said. “Because the time of paper in the life of my country has ended.”

Today would be the last for some of those fighting for Ukraine’s freedom, he added. “We are giving away our best people, the strongest ones, the most value based ones”.

“This morning was a very tragic one for us: two cruise missiles hit Kharkiv, the city, which is located on the borders of the Russian Federation”, he said. “Can you imagine two cruise missiles hit Freedom Square? Dozens were killed. This is the price of freedom.”