European Council president visits Ukraine’s Odesa 

President of the European Council Charles Michel has come to Odesa. Michel has informed of his visit on Twitter.

“Today, I came to celebrate Europe Day (a day celebrating peace and unity in Europe, celebrated on May 9 — editor’s note) in a melting pot of European culture and history: Odesa, the city where Pushkin said that you can feel Europe,” Michel said. He met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in the city.

The European Council head addressed Ukrainian citizens in a video message published on Twitter. “The Kremlin wants to execute your spirit of freedom and democracy. But I’m totally convinced they will never succeed. Dear Ukrainian friends, I’ve come to Odesa on Europe Day with one simple message: you are not alone. We stand with you. We will not let you down. We will be with you for as long as it takes, and we will help you build a modern, democratic country, a forward-looking country,” he said.

Michel visited Kyiv in April. He also visited Borodyanka, a town in the Kyiv region where bodies of civilians were found after Russian troops had withdrawn from the city. Russia has repeatedly dismissed reports of civilian victims in Ukraine as a “provocation” and “fake news.”