European Parliament head visits Kyiv

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited Kyiv unexpectedly on Friday and pledged more EU assistance in defence of Ukraine.

She tweeted a photo of her meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the slogan “courage, strength, resolve.”

She also addressed MPs in the Ukrainian parliament. “The Ukrainian people are heroes; you are fighting for what we all believe in: freedom, democracy, the rule of law. Without these values, there is nothing else,” she said. “We need more and harder sanctions on Russia,” she added.

Last month the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia – Mateusz Morawiecki, Petr Fiala and Janez Jansa, respectively – visited Kyiv together to show solidarity with Ukraine.

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq