00:00 A solemn ceremony to mark Ukraine's Day of Dignity and Freedom,
00:07 commemorating two pro-Western and pro-democracy revolutions in 2004 and 2014.
00:15 A decade ago, mass protests toppled Ukraine's Moscow-backed president
00:19 and set Kiev on a pro-Western course.
00:24 President Volodymyr Zelensky paid his respects to the scores of protesters
00:27 who lost their lives.
00:30 He says the pro-EU protest movement then marked the first victory of the war with Russia.
00:35 EU membership, he says, will happen.
00:41 Our candidate status and further accession negotiations should certainly result
00:46 in Ukraine's full membership in the EU.
00:49 And we're doing all this despite the war,
00:52 when our people are defending themselves and Europe right now.
00:58 In a show of support, EU chief Charles Michel made an unannounced visit to Ukraine.
01:03 He said on ex-formerly Twitter that it was good to be back in Kiev among friends.
01:09 Kiev is hoping EU leaders in the coming weeks will agree to launch the formal negotiations
01:14 for Ukraine to join the EU.
01:18 Charles Michel's visit follows one by Lloyd Austin on Monday,
01:22 in which the US defense secretary announced Washington would be sending
01:25 an additional $100 million in weapons.
01:28 The visits come as Zelensky has raised concerns over the conflict between Israel and Hamas,
01:33 drawing international attention away from the situation in Ukraine.
01:41 There is no sign of any easing of the conflict.
01:43 In Moscow, one senior diplomat said the Kremlin cannot co-exist with the government in Kiev.
01:47 He said the West will eventually lose interest in Ukraine.
