Irish Examiner View: Decisive seven days ahead for Ukraine

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen attends a press conference after the EU summit at the Chateau de Versailles.

Those who doubted the ability of the European Union to stay united in the face of the grim scenes now being played out hourly in Ukraine will have their scepticism confirmed after a day of meetings and dinners in the Salon d’Hercule and the baroque Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

While leaders condemned the “unspeakable” suffering caused by the biggest assault on a European state since the Second World War, the brakes have been put on Ukraine’s
application to join the EU. While this was predictable, rifts are developing within the 27 over the speed at which reliance on Russia’s fossil fuels can be reduced and on the next sets of sanctions.