Leaders challenged to say 'Ukraine must win' after 100 days of war

The West offers solidarity as conflict passes milestone

A Ukrainian flag waves over a house destroyed by shelling in the village of Moshchun, near Kyiv. AFP

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European leaders expressed solidarity with Ukraine on Friday as it marked 100 days since Russia invaded, but were challenged to state outright that they want the Ukrainians to win the war.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, one of Russia’s fiercest critics in Europe, said it was “high time for us to believe in victory, just as firmly as Ukraine does”.

His Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, another hard-line opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said western support “must continue until Ukraine wins and justice prevails”.

But there was less clarity from Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz was criticised by the opposition after saying his aims were that “Putin does not win … that Ukraine can defend itself and succeeds in doing that”.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock then went further on a Thursday evening talk show, saying: “Ukraine cannot lose under any circumstances – that means Ukraine must win.”

Another German minister played it down as a semantic question but Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for clarity at a security forum in Bratislava, Slovakia on Thursday.

“We call on our allies and partners to drop ambiguous language and set goals straight,” he said. “Why don’t we set a positive and clear goal in three words? Ukraine must win.”

Liz Truss, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, chose the wording: “[We] reaffirm our steadfast support for Ukraine’s defence, to ensure they succeed and Putin fails."

Russia invaded on February 24 despite weeks of pleas from western countries to step back from the brink. Mr Putin claimed he was neutralising a threat to Russia and defending people in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.

The war has unleashed a humanitarian crisis and an outpouring of sympathy for Ukraine. Many western countries have sent weapons and aid, and imposed a barrage of economic sanctions on Russia.

Mr Putin “expected the invasion to be over in days but significantly underestimated the resolve of brave Ukrainians, who have valiantly defended their country”, Ms Truss said.

Amin Awad, a UN Assistant Secretary General and crisis co-ordinator for Ukraine, meanwhile said the war "has and will have no winner ... rather, we have witnessed for 100 days what is lost".

The 100-day milestone came the day after the European Union approved a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, aimed at undermining its war effort by isolating it economically and cutting off the majority of oil imports.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would hold talks on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron on EU support for Ukraine, which is seeking membership of the bloc.

The commission said Ukraine was “fighting to preserve its very existence” and that the EU was “united in support” of the country’s people.

Poland called on its neighbours to “immediately cut off Putin’s funding for this war”, which comes partly from Russia's lucrative oil and gas revenue.

Although EU oil imports are being curbed, the sanctions will be phased in over several months and there is limited appetite to tackle the question of gas after the sometimes stormy negotiations over oil.

“History is repeating itself before our eyes,” Mr Morawiecki wrote in a guest article in German media, referring to 20th-century horrors in Europe. “There are too many similarities for us to ignore.”

A Soviet/Russian towed 152mm field gun, called the 2A36 Giatsint-B, is fired by self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic militia on the front line near Avdiivka, Donetsk region. EPA

A girl runs through a fountain in front of the Opera house in Lviv, Ukraine. AP

A girl is seen through a hole in the kitchen of an apartment destroyed by Russian attacks in Irpin, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A young woman walks near a damaged Soviet tank monument in Trostyanets, Ukraine. Getty Images

Members of the foreign volunteers unit which fights in the Ukrainian army, in Severodonetsk. Reuters

A woman looks for her belongings beneath rubble after a strike destroyed three houses in the city of Slovyansk, in the Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP

Ukraine fans hold up anti-war signs before a Fifa World Cup qualifier match at Hampden Park, Glasgow. PA

A street musician plays the piano to raise money for the Ukrainian army in Sumy, Ukraine. Getty

Residents queue to fetch water in the town of Rubizhne, in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. Reuters

Children walk past a damaged school in the city of Merefa in the Kharkiv area, Ukraine. EPA

A man repairs a car in a residential area of Mariupol. AFP

An aerial view shows a Russian vessel reportedly delivering stolen Ukrainian grain at Latakia port in Syria. AFP

Children sit inside a bomb shelter in Rubizhne. Reuters

A man pushes a bicycle near a residential building in Rubizhne that was destroyed during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Reuters

Vlada Shcheglova, wife of Ukraine footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, before the Fifa World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park in Glasgow. PA

A damaged building in the town of Rubizhne. Reuters

A man reads a book as he sits on a fragment of a rocket at an exhibition in Kyiv featuring Russian equipment that was damaged or destroyed during the conflict. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen ride electric scooters in Kyiv. AFP

A man reacts at the site where his house once stood in Motyzhyn village in the Kyiv region. AFP

The burnt wreckage of a tank sits in the overflowing Uhor river, in Kolychivka, Ukraine. Getty Images

People sit next to a damaged apartment building in Irpin, near Kyiv. AFP

Evgeny, 31, stands in his damaged apartment in the Saltivka district, northern Kharkiv. AFP

Ukrainian workers repair a flat damaged by shelling in the southern city of Odesa. EPA

The windows of a Gazprom oil company building in Moscow glow in the shape of the symbol Z, associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at sunflower seeds on fire in a storage area, after shelling on a farm close to the front line near Bakhmut. EPA

The burnt wreckage of a Ukrainian tank, in Kolychivka. Getty Images

A grave in front of destroyed residential buildings in Mariupol. AFP

Residents sit outside a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol. AFP

A cat walks past destroyed residential buildings in Mariupol. AFP

Local artists draw on fragments of exploded rockets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. EPA

Ms Baerbock said Germany would keep supplying weapons to Ukraine, as it seeks to head off criticism from Kyiv that the pace of arms deliveries has been too slow.

The US said it too would “continue to provide Ukraine the weapons and equipment that it needs to defend itself”, as well as humanitarian assistance for victims of the war.

Millions of people have been displaced by the conflict and left Ukraine for neighbouring countries. The UN says thousands of civilians have been killed and both sides claim to have inflicted heavy military casualties on the other.

Mr Putin and his military leadership face allegations of war crimes after civilians were found dead, some with their hands tied behind their back, in areas occupied then abandoned by Russian forces near Kyiv.

“Each day of war in Ukraine is one day too much,” said Estonian President Alar Karis. “It would take just hours for Russia to drop the weapons and stop this horror.”