European summit opens in Moldova with Ukraine war

Bulboaca, Moldova, June 2: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at a sprawling summit of some 50 European leaders in Moldova on Thursday, becoming the focal point of an event that seeks to quell regional conflicts and shore up unity in the face of Russia’s war.

The meeting of the European Political Community, a pan-continental gathering of heads of state and government from 47 countries, brings together leaders from European Union nations and others to the 27-member bloc's south and east — a region pushed to a turning point in its relationship with Moscow by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

The EU, represented at the summit by the bloc's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, wants to use the summit to reach out to many Eastern European countries that spent decades either within the Soviet Union or under its immediate sphere of influence, and to bolster the continent’s unified response to Russian aggression.

The choice to hold the summit in Moldova, a former Soviet republic of around 2.6 million people, is seen as a message to the Kremlin both from the EU and the pro-Western Moldovan government, which received EU candidate status in June of last year at the same time as Ukraine.

As he arrived, Borrell noted the significance of the summit's location, only around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Ukraine's border.

“It’s important that this message reaches Russia," Borrell said. "Russia is not here, not because we don’t want to invite Russia, but because Putin’s Russia was excluded from this community by launching this attack, this war — unjustified — against Ukraine.”

Moldova, Europe’s poorest country which is cradled by Ukraine on three sides, aspires to join the EU by the end of the decade, and has consistently signalled its support for Ukraine and taken in refugees fleeing the war.

Speaking from the summit venue, a 19th-century castle and vineyard around 35 kilometres (21 miles) from the capital, Chisinau, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said a major aim of the summit was “restoring peace on the continent” and protecting democracy in Moldova and Ukraine from threats posed by Russia.

Zelenskyy, the first foreign leader to arrive at Thursday's summit, entered an expansive courtyard of the castle in his trademark olive green shirt and cargo pants before meeting with Sandu on a red carpet.

He thanked the Moldovan people for hosting Ukrainian refugees, and said both Ukraine and Moldova were destined to work “shoulder to shoulder” for EU membership.

“What is very important: our future in the EU,” he said, adding that his country is ready to enter NATO whenever the Western military alliance is ready to accept it.

"I think security guarantees are very important, not only for Ukraine, but for our neighbours, for Moldova, because of Russian aggression in Ukraine and potential aggression in other parts of Europe," Zelenskyy said.

Other summit participants include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Scholz and Macron will join European Council President Michel for one of the summit's major meetings: discussions with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet Caucasian neighbour nations that have fought wars over a contested territory. (AP)