By Olena Harmash
KYIV, March 31 (Reuters) – The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre and to voice their support for Ukraine, amid tensions within the bloc over EU aid.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha greeted Kallas and around a dozen foreign ministers and senior officials at Kyiv’s central railway station early on Tuesday. He said the European presence demonstrated that justice for Russian atrocities was inevitable.
“Today, we commemorate the grim anniversary of the Bucha massacre,” Sybiha said on the Telegram messaging app. “Comprehensive accountability for Russian crimes is vital to restore justice in Europe. And today, we will advance accountability efforts.”
Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary this week of the liberation of Bucha, around 25 km (15 miles) from the Ukrainian capital, which brought to light the atrocities carried out in the town, where Russian troops killed more than 400 people.
Moscow denied its troops committed the atrocities and accused Ukraine of staging the incident.
EUROPE TO STAND BY UKRAINE, KALLAS SAYS
“Each visit is a powerful reminder of Ukraine’s courage and resilience,” Kallas, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a post on X.
“Europe stands by your side. We will keep providing military, financial, energy, and humanitarian support.”
Europe is now the main backer for Ukraine as it fights on against a bigger and better-equipped Russian army along more than 1,200 kilometres of the frontline.
However, a 90-billion-euro ($103.23 billion) EU loan for Ukraine has been blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban due to a dispute over the Russian oil transit via Ukraine’s Druzhba oil pipeline. Hungary is also blocking progress on talks about Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
Ukrainian officials plan to use the visit of the senior EU officials to Kyiv to focus on increasing accountability for the war crimes.
Ahead of the meeting, Sybiha said that eight countries confirmed their readiness to join the enlarged partial agreement for the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine – a planned, ad hoc European international criminal tribunal. He said he hoped that number would grow.
“The scale of Russian atrocities in the course of its aggression is unseen on European soil since World War Two,” he said ahead of the meetings. “The ashes of Bucha demand justice to be restored.”
Moscow has said it will refuse to recognize the special tribunal and will view any country joining it as a hostile act.
($1 = 0.8718 euros)
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Sharon Singleton)
Comments