EU trade commissioner visits Kyiv to discuss support for Ukraine

European Union trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis visited Kyiv on Friday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on EU support for Ukraine. "Arrived in Kyiv to discuss EU's support to #Ukraine, focus on emergency financial support and our plans for 2023," Dombrovskis, one of three executive vice presidents among the EU's 27 commissioners, wrote on Twitter.

"I'll also discuss with @ZelenskyyUa and @Denys_Shmyhal concrete steps for closer economic integration between EU and Ukraine." The EU has supported for Ukraine since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion by imposing several rounds of new sanctions on Moscow and providing Kyiv with financial assistance.

Senior EU officials including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and a number of leaders of EU member states, have also shown solidarity with Ukraine by visiting Kyiv since the start of the war. EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic said on Thursday the bloc would also provide temporary cold-weather shelter, generators, and electricity grid-repair kits for Ukraine to help it through winter following Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.