EUROPEAN leaders reportedly urged Ukraine to make territorial concessions in return for EU candidate member status today. 

Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry is reported as saying the country faces pressure to cede land to Russia, which invaded it in February, and possibly sign a temporary ceasefire in the eastern Donbass region as part of a peace deal. 

But chief negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak rejected the call and said today that Ukraine needs more weapons.  

“A ceasefire would be a de facto Russian victory,” he said.

But he added: “We are ready to agree to something so long as this [Russian] threat does not persist.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi travelled by train to Kiev today, their first respective visits since the Russian attack began.

They were joined by joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis as they inspected war damage in the Ukrainian capital before entering talks on aid and the ongoing conflict. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hopeful of a positive outcome to his country’s application for EU membership. 

The European Commission is expected to make its recommendation on Friday with France, Germany, Italy and Romania backing Ukraine’s bid.