There is a public narrative about the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to Kiev on June 16, but there is also a non-public one. For instance, Die Welt wrote: “Scholz, Macron and Draghi, who went to Kiev, privately persuaded Zelenskyy to negotiate with Russia.”
As the newspaper reports, the three advocated providing Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. But, “behind closed doors,” they most likely attempted to persuade Zelenskyy to sit down at the negotiating table with Putin, Die Welt claims.
The economic damage suffered by European countries from the crisis is growing stronger. It is increasingly difficult to compensate for it. “Economic growth has slowed down, inflation has reached a record level,” Die Welt writes.
Indeed, as impressive as it could sound, the decision to give EU “candidate status” to Kiev changes nothing for the moment. Balkan countries have been waiting for years as candidates and are still waiting.