The European Union leaders will seek to step up their sanctions pressure on Russia in an attempt to force it to end the war in Ukraine, the leaders said in a joint statement after the EU summit. “The European Union will stand by Ukraine with steadfast support for as long as it takes”, AFP reported.

 The European Union's support for Ukraine has amounted to EUR 67 billion since the beginning of the war. During bilateral meetings with European leaders in Brussels, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reiterated his appeal to the West to supply Ukraine with combat aircraft as his country prepares for Russia's spring offensive. According to the President of France Emmanuel Macron, "even if European allies decide to send fighter aircraft to Kyiv, this cannot happen in the coming weeks."

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ruled out sending British fighter jets to Ukraine in the near future, saying it would be like "going from a bicycle to a Formula 1 team", the Daily Telegraph reported.

The European tour of Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy is taking place against the backdrop of an intensified Russian offensive along the entire front line (Luhansk- Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia).