The delegation of the European Parliament met with Andrii Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, Minister of Defense, Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, Oleksandr Kornienko, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Andrii Kostin, Chief Public Prosecutor and heads of European institutions in Kyiv.
Jermak thanked the MEPs for the support that Ukraine and its citizens have received from the European Parliament since the first days of Russian aggression against Ukraine. "Our people will never forget it. And the victory of Ukraine, of which we are absolutely sure, will be our joint victory," said the head of the President's Office Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The head of the President's Office also pointed out that the European Parliament was the first to support Kiev's request for EU membership and called for Ukraine to receive candidate status for EU membership.
The EP was among the first to request the creation of a specialized court to punish crimes committed during the Russian aggression against Ukraine. On November 23, the EP adopted a resolution labeling Russia as a state that sponsors terrorism and as a state that uses the means of terrorism. All the meetings discussed the main initiatives proposed by Ukraine, especially the Kyiv Security Agreement. Ukraine also counts on the support of the 10-point peace formula proposed by President Zelensky during his address at the G20 summit. There was a lot of talk about military aid to Ukraine, stronger support for the reconstruction of infrastructure, procurement of transformers and other equipment for the Ukrainian energy system.
Measures to monitor the implementation of the sanctions imposed on Russia were also an essential topic. Since October, the Russians have been systematically destroying Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Six million people are currently without electricity. The Russians have carried out 17,000 airstrikes so far, and 510 missiles have been aimed directly at energy infrastructure. Mayor Klitschko informed the MEPs about the difficult circumstances in Kyiv.
"675 buildings were destroyed in Kyiv. At one point, Kyiv had neither water nor electricity nor heating nor reliable means of communication. The deficit in electricity supply is constantly around thirty percent. Today, 3.6 million people live in the city, in contrast to the time of the beginning of the aggression, when the number of inhabitants was halved. If we remain without electricity for more than twenty hours, we will have to think seriously about more drastic measures to protect citizens from freezing in the city."
