On Thursday, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy travelled by train to Kyiv a day after the US announced $1 billion worth of new weapons for the Ukrainian army.

The Ukrainian army is resisting a heavy attack in the Donbas region by Russian forces, pushing to occupy large portions of eastern and southern Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi are visiting Kyiv to show their support.

“We in the EU need to send a clear political signal to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, who have resisted heroically for months,” Macron said on Wednesday during a visit to neighbouring Romania.

It was the first visit to Kyiv by leaders of three EU countries since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
They will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Kyiv pushes to get the EU membership.

Draghi backed Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU and made a case for eastward expansion in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg last month.

The European Commission will soon make recommendations on Ukraine’s membership prospects. France holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of this month.

Other key figures who have visited Ukraine since the war began include British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.