BRUSSELS

Charles Michel, head of the European Council, traveled on Monday to the port city of Odesa in Ukraine to celebrate Europe Day.

“I came to celebrate Europe Day in Odesa, the city where (Russian Poet Alexander) Pushkin said that ‘you can feel Europe’ and where Ukrainians shield (…) their freedom from Russian aggression,” Michel said on Twitter.

"You are not alone. The EU stands with you."

He added: "I saw silos full of grain, wheat and corn ready for export. This badly needed food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black sea ports. Causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries. We need a global response."

According to an EU official speaking on the condition of anonymity, the visit “was a further demonstration of the unwavering solidarity of the European Union with the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.”

Michel met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and also held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link.

The source revealed that the meeting was interrupted and the leaders had to take shelter when missiles struck the region again.

They “focused on how best the EU can continue to support Ukraine in meeting the humanitarian, economic and military challenges they currently face,” the official said.

The officials also talked about “the importance of supporting Ukraine’s current liquidity challenges,” Ukraine’s European integration and reconstruction plans once the war ends, the source added.

On May 9, the EU celebrates the “peace and unity in Europe,” marking the anniversary of the historic declaration of French diplomat Robert Schuman in 1950, who proposed cooperation among Western European countries, including Germany, as a final act of reconciliation after World War II.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began in February, has left thousands dead or wounded, and forced more than 5.8 million people to flee abroad.

Moscow calls its actions a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine. For Western countries, however, it is a war of aggression and they have imposed severe sanctions in response, including ban on Russian state media, asset freezes, as well as excluding banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

Besides assistance to people fleeing the war, the EU has been providing Ukraine with humanitarian aid, macro-financial assistance as well as budget support.