Ukraine's EU bid and diplomacy on 2 March 2022
A look back at the political and diplomatic developments reported around 2 March 2022, from Ukraine's EU application to calls for ceasefire mediation and anti-war protest.
What had changed in Ukraine's political position by 2 March 2022, the eighth day of the Russian invasion? The reports of that day and the days just before it point to a country pressing for membership of the European Union, seeking a ceasefire and drawing practical support from abroad, while its leadership said it had survived an attempt on its president's life.
An application for EU membership
On 28 February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an application for Ukraine to join the European Union. The same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine should in time join the EU, calling it one of the bloc's own and saying the EU wanted it in the European family. On 1 March 2022 the European Parliament formally accepted Ukraine's application.
Talks and mediation
Also on 28 February 2022, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak announced that peace talks had begun. Ukraine used them to call for a ceasefire. That day, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron said that, in a phone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin had confirmed his willingness to make commitments to stop attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and to secure major roadways.
On 1 March 2022, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked China to help mediate a ceasefire. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi replied 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.
Aircraft and sanctions
On 28 February 2022, 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: 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 rather than by the EU itself.
On 1 March 2022, Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot announced that he would take urgent legislation to parliament on Wednesday so the General Council could approve a framework for economic sanctions on Russia. The law was meant to freeze 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.
Security claims
On 1 March 2022, Ukrainian intelligence information indicated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had 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.
The same day, a senior Ukrainian territorial defence 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.
Calls for protest in Russia
On 2 March 2022, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny called for more anti-war protests in Russia and around the world, as well as protests against Putin.
Taken together, the reports from 28 February to 2 March 2022 show a government pursuing several tracks at once: formal steps towards the EU, negotiations and appeals for mediation, and requests for military and political backing, all while contested claims about the war's reach, including Belarus's role, were still being sorted out.
