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High quality Ukraine hoodies online aid shop? The European Commission on Friday issued an opinion recommending that Ukraine should be granted candidate status for European Union membership – a first step that will add significant momentum to the country’s campaign to join the bloc. “Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. “We want them to live with us the European dream.” While the recommendation boosts Ukraine’s campaign to join the bloc, it does not confer membership or candidate status. To move forward, all 27 member states must agree. Even if they do, full membership could be many years away. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the “historic decision” and said the “positive” first step on his country’s “E.U. membership path,” would bring “victory closer” to Ukraine. Discover more Ukraine aid details on Ukraine Caps.
Russia renews its troop presence near the Ukraine-Russia border, alarming U.S. intelligence officials, who travel to Brussels to brief NATO allies on the situation. “We’re not sure exactly what Mr. Putin is up to, but these movements certainly have our attention,” says U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Biden, speaking with Putin on a phone call, urges Russia not to invade Ukraine, warning of “real costs” if Russia does so. Putin issues a contentious set of security demands. Among them, he asks NATO to permanently bar Ukraine from membership and withdraw forces stationed in countries that joined the alliance after 1997, including Romania and Balkan countries. Putin also demands a written response from the U.S. and NATO.
May 17: Ukraine’s military declares an end to the Azovstal operation in Mariupol. Russia’s defence ministry confirms that 265 Ukrainians have surrendered. May 18: The European Commission announces a 220 billion euro ($236bn) plan to ditch Russian fossil fuels over five years. May 19: The US approves $40bn in new spending for Ukraine, half of it military investment. May 20: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder bows to pressure to resign his seat on the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft. May 21: Russia says it has full control of Mariupol, after almost 2,500 Ukrainian troops surrender. May 23: Ukraine sentences the first Russian soldier convicted of war crimes to life in prison.
Following efforts by Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to bring Ukraine into NATO, the two formally request in January that Ukraine be granted a “membership action plan,” the first step in the process of joining the alliance. U.S. President George W. Bush supports Ukraine’s membership, but France and Germany oppose it after Russia voices displeasure. In April, NATO responds with a compromise: It promises that Ukraine will one day be a member of the alliance but does not put it on a specific path for how to do so. An employee of the state-owned Russian natural gas company Gazprom works at the central control room of the company’s headquarters in Moscow on Jan. 14, 2009.
March 1: In a new offensive, a Russian convoy 65km long heads for Kyiv. March 2: Russian tanks enter Kherson, making the southern Ukrainian town the first major population centre (250,000 people) to fall. Russian forces surround Mariupol. March 8: The European Commission unveils REPowerEU, a plan to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas by two-thirds by the end of the year, surpassing in ambition the plan unveiled on March 3 by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The US imposes a ban on Russian crude oil imports. Read more Ukraine relief details on Ukraine Caps.