Leaders pledge arms and EU path for Ukraine in Kyiv visit

Leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania visited Ukraine on Thursday, vowing to back Kyiv's bid to become an official candidate to join the European Union in a high-profile show of support for the country fending off a Russian invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron also promised Ukraine six more powerful truck-mounted artillery guns, the latest in a new round of Western arms pledges for Ukraine as the war grinds on in the eastern Donbas region.

The leaders “are doing everything so that Ukraine alone can decide its fate,” Macron said at a news conference.

In the face of Kyiv's fears that Western resolve to help it could wane, the visit by Macron and the leaders of Germany, Italy and Romania carried heavy symbolic weight.

After arriving in Kyiv to the sound of air raid sirens, the leaders headed to Irpin, a suburb of the capital that was the scene of intense fighting early in the war and where many civilians were killed.