What happened in Ukraine's diplomacy on 1 March 2022?

What did a sixth day of Russia's invasion mean for Ukraine's standing abroad? On 1 March 2022, the answer came mainly through diplomacy, with the European Parliament formally accepting Ukraine's application for EU membership.

A step towards the EU

The parliament's decision followed a move on 28 February 2022, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine's application to join the European Union. On the same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine should eventually join the bloc. She described it as one of its own and said the EU wanted to see it in the European family.

Calls for a ceasefire

On 1 March 2022, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked China to help mediate a ceasefire. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded that China was ready to help Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement and to mediate a ceasefire. China had also expressed regret over the conflict.

The request came a day after Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential advisor, announced on 28 February 2022 that peace talks had begun. Ukraine called for a ceasefire during those talks. Also on 28 February 2022, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron said that, in a phone call, Vladimir Putin had confirmed his willingness to make commitments to stop attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and to secure major roadways.

Sanctions and arms

Sanctions spread to smaller European states. On 1 March 2022, Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot announced that he would put a law through urgent parliamentary procedure on Wednesday so that the General Council could approve a framework for economic sanctions on Russia. The law was aimed at freezing the bank assets of 700 people and 50 companies that the EU considered linked to the invasion. It was the first time Andorra had applied sanctions to a foreign country.

Military support was also an issue. On 28 February 2022, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced that Sweden would send military equipment, including anti-tank launchers, to Ukraine. That broke with a doctrine of not sending arms to countries engaged in active conflict.

The same day, Ukrainian Air Force pilots began arriving in Poland to take control of fighter aircraft donated by EU countries. The Ukrainian government said the EU was handing over 70 fighter jets, including 28 MiG-29s from Poland, 12 from Slovakia, 16 from Bulgaria, and 14 Sukhoi Su-25s from Bulgaria. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said he had rejected the request. EU security chief Josep Borrell later clarified that the donations were made bilaterally by individual member states, not by the EU itself.

Security claims

On 1 March 2022, a senior Ukrainian territorial defence forces official said Belarusian Ground Forces units had entered northern Chernihiv Oblast. The Ukrainian presidential office said there was no evidence of this. Belarus had previously said it would not send its armed forces to Ukraine.

Also on that date, according to Ukrainian intelligence information, the Ukrainian Armed Forces foiled an assassination plot against Zelenskyy by killing a group of Chechen paramilitaries known as Kadyrovtsy, who had been trying to enter Kyiv on 26 February 2022.