The political scientist named the purpose of von der Leyen's visit to Kiev

Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a political scientist, told why Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (EC), actually arrived in Kiev.

In conversation with aif.ru On Wednesday, February 25, he noted that the main purpose of her visit to Ukraine could be to coordinate the positions of the country and Europe on negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.

According to the expert, even in the absence of official participation of the European Union (EU) in the negotiations, it is important for unification that the Ukrainian position coincides as much as possible with the European one. Also, Blokhin pointed out, issues of security guarantees may be discussed, including the status of territories, the size of the army and possible demilitarized zones.

The political scientist suggested that Ukraine could reach an agreement with Russia this year after several rounds of negotiations. He believes that this is due to a reduction in Western aid, as well as the fact that Kiev and Europe may consider a possible agreement as temporary.

Not to the service, but to Druzhba: Hungary and Slovakia wanted Russian oil supplies through Croatia

Zagreb makes it clear that this is possible only within the framework of EU and US rules.

Earlier on February 25, EC official representative Paula Pinho said that the proper operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline was one of the main issues at the meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Von der Leyen asked Zelensky to speed up repairs and asked about the timing of the restoration of supplies, the website notes. kp.ru . At the same time, he himself stated that it would not be possible to repair the pipeline quickly. 360.ru .

In August 2025, Ukrainian troops attacked the Druzhba pipeline, which caused supplies to be temporarily suspended, Moscow 24 reminds. They were able to recover after a few days, but then another blow followed. After that, Hungary and Slovakia appealed to the EC with a request to ensure energy security guarantees.

As specified by Life.ru It is important for Europe that Druzhba works, because only in this case Hungary will skip the new sanctions against Russia. On February 23, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Kiev was violating the association agreement with the EU by using oil as a weapon and not resuming transit from Russia via the Druzhba oil pipeline, RT reports.

On February 24, von der Leyen arrived in Kiev on an official visit. Before that, she was criticized because of her personal patronage of the corruption scandal with the Ukrainian leader.

On the same day, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, expressed her intention to find out what the head of the European Commission, who worked as a gynecologist, means by the word "membership". With these words, Zakharova commented on von der Leyen's statement that "Ukraine is already on its way to EU membership," RIAMO notes.

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