\n EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday in Kyiv that war-torn Ukraine would have Europe's support for \"as long as it takes\", as the country's president announced the discovery of a mass grave in a town recaptured from Russia.\n<\/p>\n
\n Von der Leyen's trip coincided with a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his increasingly close ally Chinese leader Xi Jinping in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan, where the men hailed their strategic ties in defiance of the West.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said Thursday's visit was her third to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, but this one was different.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We will never be able to match the sacrifice that the Ukrainians are making,\" she told reporters during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"But what we can tell you is that you'll have your European friends by your side as long as it takes,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Highlighting the toll of the conflict, Zelensky said in his evening address that a mass grave had been found in Izyum after the town was recaptured.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We want the world to know what the Russian occupation has caused,\" he said, without giving details on the number of bodies found or their cause of death.\n<\/p>\n
\n A regional police official, Sergei Botvinov, told Sky News that a burial site with around 440 graves had been discovered in Izyum, with some of the dead shot and others killed in shelling.\n<\/p>\n
\n Von der Leyen had earlier said she wants Putin to face the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"That Putin must lose this war and must face up to his actions, that is important to me,\" she told the TV channel of German news outlet Bild.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Sanctions are here to stay' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Upon arriving in the country, she said her discussions with the Ukraine's leaders would be about \"getting our economies and people closer.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Kyiv gained EU candidacy status in June at the same time as ex-Soviet Moldova, which borders Ukraine and like its neighbour has had Russian troops stationed in an eastern breakaway region.\n<\/p>\n
\n The historic candidacy vote angered Moscow, which has tried to retain political and military influence in both countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n EU countries have staunchly supported Ukraine since Moscow invaded in February by hitting Russia with economic penalties.\n<\/p>\n
\n Many members of the bloc have supplied Kyiv with advanced weapons that have helped Ukrainian forces in recent weeks recapture swathes of territory.\n<\/p>\n
\n Germany's defence minister pledged more weapons on Thursday, saying Berlin will provide armoured vehicles and rocket launch systems but not the battle tanks sought by Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n Von der Leyen said just ahead of her trip that the successive waves of EU sanctions against Russia would remain and that Europeans must keep their resolve against Moscow.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I want to make it very clear, the sanctions are here to stay,\" she told the European Parliament.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Kremlin maintains that Russia has weathered the economic penalties and Moscow has responded by reducing or halting entirely gas flows to European countries.\n<\/p>\n
\n With winter fast approaching, this has forced the EU to source alternative supplies, agree plans to cut consumption and roll out financial support in the face of skyrocketing prices.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Putin praises Xi's stance -\n<\/p>\n
\n Ukrainian energy facilities, including Zaporizhzhia -- Europe's biggest atomic plant -- have been hit by Russian strikes.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN nuclear agency on Thursday asked Russia to withdraw its troops from Zaporizhzhia, diplomats said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ukraine's forces have posted slow but steady gains in the southern Kherson region near the Black Sea.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Ukrainian presidency said on Thursday that intense fighting was ongoing around that southern front, adding that the military situation \"remains extremely difficult.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Local officials in the region around Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih reported fresh Russian strikes Thursday after attacks damaged a dam and saw dozens of homes flooded.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the eastern Donetsk region, which has been partially controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014, fresh shelling killed two civilians and left another 13 wounded.\n<\/p>\n
\n At the meeting in Uzbekistan, Putin blasted attempts to create a \"unipolar world\" and praised China's stance on the conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We highly appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis,\" Putin told Xi.\n<\/p>\n
\n Beijing has not explicitly endorsed Moscow's invasion but it has steadily built economic and strategic ties with Russia over the six months of the war.\n<\/p>\n
\n burs-jbr\/jmm\/wd\/dw<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday in Kyiv that war-torn Ukraine would have Europe's support for \"as long as it takes\", as the country's president announced the discovery of a mass grave in a town recaptured from Russia. Von der Leyen's trip coincided with a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-106527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n