February 9, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a heartfelt appeal for his country to become part of the European Union during an address to EU lawmakers.

"This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life. And for Ukraine, it's a way home, a way to its home," Zelensky said, referencing Ukraine's aim to join the European Union. 

"I am here in order to defend our people's way home," he added. 

The Ukrainian President underlined that Ukraine shares values with Europe, rather than with Russia, which he said is trying to take Ukraine back in time.

It was an emotional message designed to try to connect with EU parliamentarians.

Ukrainian President Voloydymyr Zelensky has told European lawmakers that Russia wants to return Europe to the xenophobia of the 1930s and 1940s.

"The answer for us to that is no," he said. "We are defending ourselves. We must defend ourselves."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is addressing the European Parliament in Brussels.

"I'm here in order to defend our people's way home," he told EU lawmakers.

Zelensky said Russia wants to destroy the Ukrainian and European way of life.

"We will not allow that," he said.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has introduced Ukrainian President Voloydymyr Zelensky ahead of his address.

"We have your back," Metsola told Zelensky. "Freedom will prevail."

Zelensky received a standing ovation as he walked into the chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday. 

"Ukraine is Europe and your nation's future is in the European Union," said Metsola at the beginning of an EU summit, as she stood next to Zelensky. 

"We will be with you for as long as it takes," she said. 

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said his country did not have a red line when it came to providing fighter jets to Ukraine, but cautioned his country did not have the means to relinquish any of its own aircraft. 

“It’s not a red line,” Costa told journalists as he arrived in Brussels for a special European Council meeting on Thursday.

Portugal operates a total of 27 F-16 AM fighter jets but Costa says they are already tied to several NATO commitments.

“That’s an area where we simply don’t have the possibility [of giving to Ukraine], given that the means we have are all allocated to missions that we cannot do without," he said.

Costa went on to say Portugal had done its best to support Ukraine since the beginning of the war, highlighting the recent commitment to send three of its Leopard 2 tanks. 

He added that supplies to Ukraine had the ultimate goal of achieving peace, but only on Ukrainian terms. 

“Peace is our objective,” he said. “War is a means to achieve peace and this war, it should be reminded, was not started by Ukraine, Ukraine is the victim of war.

“The moment, the terms and conditions for peace can only be defined by Ukraine,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the European Parliament in Brussels ahead of an EU summit on Thursday. 

He was greeted by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. 

Zelensky is expected to address the EU Parliament later Thursday as part of a campaign to persuade the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Brussels, where he is expected to address the EU Parliament later today.

Zelensky arrived from Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Zelensky made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday in only his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

In a speech to British lawmakers, Zelensky repeated his consistent call for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

In a poignant but carefully crafted move, Zelensky handed the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot, signed with the message: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

Earlier Wednesday, the UK announced it will begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets, in what CNN understands would be the first official training program for Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter aircraft.

There was no mention of providing Ukraine with Western fighter aircraft that Zelensky has been calling for.

But British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did say that “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table” when asked whether the UK will provide fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron are on their way to Brussels, where they'll attend a European Union summit.

The leaders are flying together to the Belgian capital on a plane that departed from Vélizy-Villacoublay airport southwest of Paris on Thursday morning.

Zelensky is expected to address the EU Parliament in Brussels later Thursday. Ukraine officially became an EU candidate state last year, but it is still likely to be years before Kyiv is able to officially join the union.

On Wednesday, Zelensky visited London and Paris as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine. 

CNN could not independently confirm the group's claims. 

Some context: Wagner has recruited tens of thousands of fighters from Russian jails, offering freedom and cash after a six-month tour, with Prigozhin even traveling personally to prisons to recruit convicts.

The group has emerged as a key player in the war, especially in the ongoing fight for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian assessments of Wagner tactics and accounts from defectors suggest the convicts are used as "cannon fodder" — pushed to the front lines in a human wave.