EU chief Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the Europe Day celebration of peace and unity, as Ukraine delivered a symbolic retort to Moscow's Victory Day parade.
EDnews informs via Euronews that the president of the European Commission travelled on an overnight train from Poland to see President Volodymyr Zelensky and work on Ukraine's quest for eventual EU membership, a reporter on the train said.
The Ukrainian leader has decreed that May 9 would be celebrated in his country as Europe Day, as it is in Brussels, spurning the martial Victory Day tradition of the former Soviet Union.
So, while tanks roll through Red Square in Moscow, in Kyiv Zelensky and his European ally were to draw up plans to defeat the Russian invasion and to bring Ukraine into the EU fold.
"I very much welcome President Zelensky's decision to make May 9 the Day of Europe. Ukraine is part of our European family," von der Leyen told a reporter on her train to Kyiv.
"My presence in Kyiv today on May 9 is symbolic, but it is also the sign of a crucial and very practical reality: the EU is working hand in hand with Ukraine on many issues."