Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and European Union foreign policy head Josep Borrell in Kyiv, October 2, 2023 (EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy on “Day of Defenders” — “Victory Will Come”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1353 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met commanders and visited troops on the frontline in northeast Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said he met brigades fighting in the Kupyansk-Lyman sector, where Russia has been staging attacks in an attempt to divert Ukrainian forces from their counter-offensive in the east.

UPDATE 1228 GMT:

Armenia has provoked Russia’s ire with a Parliamentary vote to join the International Criminal Court.

The decision means the former Soviet republic and Russian ally will have to arrest Vladimir Putin — following the ICC’s warrant in March over Putin’s deportations of Ukrainian children — if he visits the country.

Armenia was unhappy with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has further distanced itself from Moscow after Azerbaijan’s takeover of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Last week the Kremlin last week warned Armenia that a decision to join the ICC would be “extremely hostile”.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, “We have additional questions to the current leadership of Armenia. It is an incorrect decision.”

UPDATE 1223 GMT:

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, in Kyiv for the European Union meeting, has announced plans for a new package of military aid to Ukraine.

UPDATE 1200 GMT:

Ukraine and Poland have agreed on the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through Polish territory to third countries.

The arrangement lifts Poland’s unilateral ban, instituted in the spring and extended on September 15 to the end of 2023.

Five countries — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria — imposed the restrictions. When the European Union refused to authorize the extension last month, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia took unilateral action.

Poland’s Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told journalists after an online meeting with ministers from Ukraine and Lithuania:

We have agreed on an important question. From tomorrow, grains that transit via Lithuania will undergo checks at a Lithuanian port and not at the Poland-Ukraine border.

UPDATE 0645 GMT:

Ukraine has received its first group of refurbished German-made Leopard tanks from Poland.

The Polish Armaments Group, the main industrial partner of Poland’s armed forced, announced the delivery on Monday.

The Group also confirmed that it is repairing another group of tanks for Ukraine.

UPDATE 0619 GMT:

The mayor of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv says it is building the first fully underground school as protection from Russian missile and rocket attacks.

“Such a shelter will enable thousands of Kharkiv children to continue their safe face-to-face education even during missile threats,” posted Ihor Terekhov on Telegram.

Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine near the Russian border, has already established about 60 underground classrooms in metro stations for more than 1,000 children.

UPDATE 0615 GMT:

The Ukraine Air Force said air defenses destroyed 29 of 31 drones and a cruise missile launched by Russia overnight.

The attacks, in several waves over more than three hours, targeted the regions of Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk in southern Ukraine.

Thirteen drones and the cruise missiles were intercepted over Dnipropetrovsk. Falling debris in Dnipro city set a private firm on fire, and a blaze at an industrial enterprise in Pavlohrad damaged manufacturing facilities.

Sixteen drones were destroyed over Mykolaiv.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: European Union Foreign Ministers met in Kyiv on Monday in a show of international resolve and support for Ukraine’s stand against Russian invasion.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said:

Our key integration goal is to hammer out a decision this year to start membership negotiations. And today I heard once again at the meetings and negotiations that this is absolutely possible.

Objectively, our country is a leader in protecting the very foundations on which European unity rests. The unity of modern Europe, which values human freedom and equality of nations, which values international law.

That amplified the earlier message of Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, standing alongside the EU’s foreign policy head Josep Borrell:

We are moving forward, we expect a decision to start negotiations on membership by the end of the year.

We have not been offered anything, but Ukraine is a first-class state and we are not satisfied with anything but first-class membership.

It’s just a matter of time.

Borrell confirmed his support:

We have been talking about the security commitments that we want to provide to Ukraine, showing our determination to stand by Ukraine in the long term.

And for sure the strongest security commitment that we can give to Ukraine is European Union membership.

Borrell said Ukraine’s accession was all or nothing, rejecting the option of entry into the single market before full membership: “What is this talk about partial membership? Half membership? 25% membership? Membership is membership. Full stop.”

Borrell announced the EU’s proposal of a “recurrent envelope” of €5 billion ($5.23 billion) in military aid for Kyiv.

He said the bloc plans to train 40,000 Ukrainian troops, including fighter jet pilots, in coming months. Resilience and cyber-defense will be bolstered.

“Our support does not depend on the advances of one day,” Borrell emphasized. “It’s permanent, structured support because we are facing an existential threat for Europe.”