EU-Ukraine summit should become summit of our European future. Poroshenko on results of Brussels visit

Petro Poroshenko told journalists in Brussels. 

During his meetings at NATO headquarters, the European Parliament and the European Commission, the fifth president called on the partners to provide Ukraine with powerful weapons as soon as possible and to strengthen sanctions against Russia. Poroshenko also believes that Ukraine should receive an invitation to join NATO this year. 

Poroshenko emphasizes the acceleration of Ukraine's European integration and the continuation of necessary reforms, strengthening democracy and the rule of law. 

"We expect that the Ukraine-EU summit to be held on February 3 will be a summit of unity and the European future of Ukraine. Unity both within the country and unity in the world, strengthening and cementing the international coalition in support of Ukraine," Poroshenko stated. 

"It should be a summit of the European future and concrete steps with specific dates. No more manipulations with the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court, no more attempts to deceive our European partners with the independence of anti-corruption bodies, judicial reform, the rule of law, and so on. We have to build a relationship of trust. My visit to Brussels, my first visit in a year of the war, will be aimed at building trust. There is trust, we know how to do it, and we promote and protect Ukraine," Poroshenko emphasized.

Co-chairman of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Poland Witold Waszczykowski said: "The visit of former President Poroshenko to the European Parliament is important. We talked about helping Ukraine both militarily and economically and punishing Russia with effective sanctions. Ukraine should also open the way for deeper cooperation with the EU, for example, in the European common market." 

Manfred Weber, President of the European People's Party, wrote after the meeting with Poroshenko: "I expressed our full and unwavering support to the people of Ukraine, in great respect for their unity. Europe should deliver the weapons needed to restore territorial integrity. Putin cannot win."

"We discussed in detail the situation at the front and the priority needs of the Ukrainian army. As well as internal development in Ukraine, primarily with an emphasis on Ukraine's proper implementation of the European Commission's recommendations to start pre-accession talks this year," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.

During a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the fifth president called for speeding up the consideration of Ukraine's application for membership in the Alliance.

"I drew the attention of the NATO Secretary General to the need to speed up the consideration of Ukraine's official application for membership in the Alliance. Without Ukraine, this transatlantic project will not be completed. At the same time, with Ukraine, NATO will become stronger, safer, and more authoritative not only in the region but also in the world," Poroshenko claimed.

After the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, NATO parliamentary assembly head Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam wrote: "All united for Ukraine."  

Slovak MEP Ivan Štefanec tweeted: "I was pleased to discuss today with Poroshenko the state of Russian aggression against Ukraine. This country is defending not only its land but also peace in the entire EU. In this case, unfortunately, only "weapons will bring peace."

"We exchanged assessments of the state of implementation by the Ukrainian side of the seven recommendations of the European Commission for pre-accession negotiations and reforms as part of the commitments under the new EU macro-financial assistance program. My position is clear: war should not be an excuse to slow down reforms and erode democratic institutions," Petro Poroshenko emphasized.

After the meeting with Petro Poroshenko, MEP from Lithuania Andrius Kubilius noted that European friends of Ukraine were doing everything possible to persuade Western capitals to provide even more assistance. Kubilius believes that the arguments of the fifth president regarding the need to invite Ukraine to NATO at the summit in Vilnius are very convincing.

"We meet regularly with President Poroshenko, he is really very experienced. And we value his opinions on how things are going in Ukraine, in the region and around the world. This is very important for us because we are trying to do everything we can here to support Ukraine, to convince Western capitals to do much more. We talked about the military situation, what the challenges are and how we can assess Russian military capabilities. Of course, we talked very specifically about the recent Ramstein and the topic of Leopards. Our colleague from Germany, Michael Gahler, was also present," Kubilius told reporters. 

"Poroshenko made a very strong case for why Ukraine should be invited to become a NATO member during the summit in Vilnius. This is where we are looking for how we can help and how we can convince different capitals to support this idea. Our goal is also to promote Ukraine's integration into the EU, to push the EU institutions to start negotiations. Many things are important, and the discussion with Petro Poroshenko is always very fruitful, as is the discussion with members of the Rada," the MEP claimed.

After the meeting with Petro Poroshenko, German MEP Michael Gahler expressed his full support for the supply of tanks to Ukraine. The fifth president is calling on his partners to provide Ukraine with armored vehicles, long-range missiles, tanks and fighter jets in January and February before Russia can use the new wave of mobilization to launch an offensive. 

"Petro Poroshenko is a patriot, like all Ukrainians. It is very important to maintain unity both in the European Union with Ukraine and within Ukraine. I think it's time to show determination to avoid political division and other issues that could disrupt unity," said Gahler.

"There is a broad consensus in the European Parliament and in the European Union that we are doing everything we can to provide Ukraine with all its needs humanitarian, financial and, of course, military. Now we need to deliver Leopards and other battle tanks. This is important because Russia is preparing a new offensive. And Ukraine must be ready for this moment," the MEP concluded.