On Friday, 20 September, a journalist of the Portuguese news agency Lusa and a photographer of the German press agency dpa travelled to Ukraine with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to report on behalf of the European Newsroom (enr).
At around eight o’clock in the morning, von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv, marking her eighth trip to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country two years ago. The German politician was accompanied by an entourage of EU officials as well as a team of journalists including the Lusa and dpa journalists acting as pool reporters for the enr.
“My eighth visit to Kyiv comes at a crucial time. Heating season starts in two weeks and Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure aim to inflict maximum damage. We will help Ukraine in its brave efforts to overcome this,” the EU executive leader told the group of media on the ground.
She guaranteed European support for Ukraine ahead of winter, including a proposal for the EU’s 35-billion-Euro share of a G7 loan as well as an additional 160 million Euro financial support for the country’s ailing energy infrastructure and supply.
A selection of images from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to Ukraine on Friday, 20 September 2024. Photos: Christoph Soeder/dpa/European Newsroom.
Von der Leyen’s activities during the trip included a visit to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) to review the country’s emergency energy equipment as well as a meeting and a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This marked the fourth press pool trip for the European Newsroom. The reporters shared text and photo material with the pool.
Several enr agencies published news stories about von der Leyen’s visit to Ukraine on their wires. The enr also produced a Key Story, which you can read here.