Prove that you are with us: Zelenskyy tells EU

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the European Union to prove that it sides with Ukraine in its war with Russia a day after signing an official request to join the bloc.

“We are fighting to be equal members of Europe,” Zelenskyy told an emergency session of the European Parliament on Tuesday via video link.

“We are just fighting for our land and for our freedom. And believe me, despite the fact that all the big cities of our country are now blocked, no one will enter our freedom and state. Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans. And then, life will win over death and light will win over darkness,” he said,

“I am glad that we have united all of you, the countries of the European Union, today, but I did not know that it would have such a high price—it’s a tragedy for me, for every Ukrainian, for our country,” he added.

“Today we pay for values, for rights, for freedom, just for the desire to be equal, the same as you, we pay with our best people, the strongest, extraordinary Ukrainians,” he further said as he received a standing ovation for his address.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy had said that launching a rocket at the central square of Kharkiv is an “outright, undisguised terror”. “After that, Russia became a terrorist state. No one will forgive. Nobody will forget,” he had said.

Speaking on the occasion, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “In these days, independent Ukraine is facing the darkest hour. At the same time the Ukrainian people are holding up the torch of freedom for all of us, they are showing immense courage… They are defending their lives, but they are also fighting for universal values and they are willing to die for them. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are our true inspiration.”

She added, “This is a watershed moment for our union. We cannot take our security and the protection of people for granted. We have to stand up for it. We have to invest in it. We have to carry our fair share of the responsibility.”