EU officials visit Bucha massacre site and offer Ukraine a step on road to membership

'We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Two of the European Union's top officials visited Ukraine on Friday in a show of solidarity with the country after Russian forces withdrew from around the capital.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was visibly moved on a visit to Bucha, the town near Kyiv where evidence of an apparent massacre was discovered after Russia ended its occupation.

She also handed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a form that could become the basis of an EU membership application.

“The unthinkable has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's army. We have seen the recklessness and the cold-heartedness with which they have been occupying the city,” she said.

She and Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, travelled by train from Poland for their first meeting with the Ukrainian president since Russia invaded in February. They were joined by Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger.

It makes them the most senior European delegation to have visited Kyiv since war broke out, after the prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic as well as the president of the European Parliament previously travelled to the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a questionnaire to begin the process for considering his country's application for European Union membership. AP

Ms von der Leyen pledged to offer Mr Zelenskyy a speedier start to Ukraine's bid to become a member of the EU.

“Russia will descend in economic, financial and technological decay while Ukraine is marching towards a European future,” Ms von der Leyen said at a press conference alongside Mr Zelenskyy.

Handing Mr Zelenskyy a questionnaire, which will form a starting point for the EU to decide on membership for Kyiv, she said: “It will not as usual be a matter of years to form this opinion but I think a matter of weeks.”

Mr Zelenskyy said he would come back with answers in a week.

As Mr Zelenskyy repeated a call for harsher sanctions, Ms von der Leyen said the EU was mobilising its economy to ensure Mr Putin paid a heavy price.

Women, wrapped in a Ukrainian flag, embrace during a flash mob protesting sexual abuse by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, at Washington Square Park in New York. AFP

The train station, seen from a train car, after a rocket attack in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the station in the eastern Ukrainian city killed 52 people as civilians raced to flee the Donbas region bracing for a feared Russian offensive. AFP

Antonina Kaletnyk waits for the body of her son in front of a collapsed building in the town of Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

A vehicle drives past a hole on a damaged bridge, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AFP

A segment of a large rocket with the words "for our children" in Russian is pictured next to the main building of the train station in Kramatorsk. EPA

Antonina Kaletnyk waits for the body of her son in front of a collapsed building in the town of Borodianka, northwest of Kyiv. AFP

A woman waves goodbye to her husband as she leaves on a bus, a day after the rocket attack at a train station in Kramatorsk. AFP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU foreign affairs envoy Josep Borrell during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. EPA

European Commission President Ursula and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a news conference in Kyiv. Reuters

Ms von der Leyen shakes hands with President Zelenskyy as Mr Borrell looks on during their meeting in Kyiv. EPA

Ms von der Leyen and Mr Borrell before their meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv. EPA

Ms von der Leyen, Mr Borrell and Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal visit the town of Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Smoke rises after Russian shelling at the railway station in Kramatorsk, in the Donbas region of Ukraine. AP

Burnt vehicles are seen in the aftermath of a rocket attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk. AFP

Policemen at the scene in Kramatorsk. AFP

The remnants of a rocket after the deadly strike in Kramatorsk. AFP

Survivors of the attack sit on a bench outside the station. AFP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen departs for Kyiv in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

A man wheels his bicycle past a destroyed tank in Chernihiv. AP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Barcelona Mayoress Ada Colau visit the refugee centre set up at Fira de Barcelona for the care, temporary reception and referral of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war. EPA

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin follows the address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link at the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki. AFP

A young refugee from Ukraine and a dog wait in the ticket hall of the railwlay station in Przemysl, eastern Poland, which has become a hub for refugees from Ukraine fleeing their country due to Russia's aggression. AFP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanks MPs after his virtual address to the Greek Parliament in Athens. AFP

Firefighters take a rest after working at the site of buildings that were destroyed by shelling, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Borodyanka, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, poses for a picture during an interview with The Associated Press during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian soldiers Anastasia and Vyacheslav embrace prior to their wedding ceremony in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Yurii, 41, who serves in the Ukrainian military, grabs a wedding photograph from his apartment in Hostomel, Ukraine. Getty Images

A damaged car is seen next to a heavily damaged apartment building in Hostomel, Ukraine. Getty Images

Burnt cars are seen next to a field in Hostomel, Ukraine. Getty Images

Svitlana, 62, shows a heavily damaged house in the residential area, in Hostomel, Ukraine. Getty Images

Ukrainians, who fled to Mexico amid the Russian invasion of their homeland, enjoy the performance of a mariachi band at the Benito Juarez sports complex, set up as a shelter by the local government, after arriving in Tijuana to enter the U. S. , in Tijuana, Mexico. Reuters

A Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle bound for Ukraine waits to be loaded onto a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley, Australia. AP

Residents and volunteers cross the destroyed bridge to the city with supplies in Irpin, Ukraine. Getty Images

A Ukrainian serviceman attends a training session in Kharkiv outskirts, Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian serviceman walks on a destroyed Russian fighting vehicle in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

Screens show results from voting by the UN General Assembly in New York as member countries pass a resolution to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. EPA

The shell of a theatre destroyed in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Reuters

A woman lights candles during a demonstration to support Ukraine in downtown Sofia. AFP

Territorial Defence fighters are trained near Kharkiv. EPA

Rescuers work among remains of residential building destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodyanka, Kyiv region. Reuters

Smoke rises over the town of Rubizhne, in the Donbas region. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers sit on an armoured military vehicle in the city of Severodonetsk, Donbass region. AFP

Painted pictures showing Ukrainian cities hang on a wall at "Cafe Ukraine" in Berlin, Germany. Getty

A Ukrainian refugee's dog arrives on a train from Odesa at Przemysl Glowny train station in Poland. Reuters

The EU is also about to ban coal imports from Russia after ambassadors from the bloc's 27 countries approved the proposal late on Thursday.

A potential second step of banning oil deliveries will be discussed on Monday. Ukraine wants the EU to complete the set by stopping the gas imports on which it is most reliant.

Before the EU leaders arrived, as many as 50 people were killed and many more were wounded in a rocket strike at a railway station packed with civilians fleeing the threat of a major Russian offensive in the country's east.

Ukraine has been pressing the EU to speed up its membership application, an idea supported by many countries in the eastern part of the bloc but viewed more sceptically by senior leaders in the West.

The visit comes after Russian forces paused their offensive towards Kyiv and pulled troops away from the capital, revealing evidence of massacres in a number of towns.

The reported atrocities have spurred demands for more action from Ukraine's allies and pushed the EU into imposing sanctions on Russia's lucrative energy sector for the first time.

Mr Borrell said this week that the 27-member EU is Russia paying €1 billion ($1.09bn) a day for energy provisions, accounting for more than €35bn since the war started and dwarfing its military aid to Ukraine.

Mr Zelenskyy said the continuation of such payments would be taken in Moscow as “permission to go further” in attacking Ukraine and allow Russia “not to take seriously the negotiations on ending the war".

The sanctions package agreed to on Thursday, the fifth in the EU since Russia invaded, also includes a ban on port access for Russian vessels and further restrictions on trade.