Who showed up — and who didn't — for Kyiv's big day

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast:

Who showed up — and who didn't — for Kyiv's big day
February 25, 2026 | Host: Ian Wishart with Zoya Sheftalovich reporting from Kyiv

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Brussels Playbook Podcast focuses on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—a day marked in Kyiv by powerful symbolism, visiting European leaders, and the conspicuous absence of key Western allies. Reporting from Kyiv, Zoya Sheftalovich joins Ian Wishart to analyze what the day’s events reveal about the state of European solidarity, Ukraine’s hopes (and anxieties), and EU diplomatic maneuvering, particularly around continued financial support.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Anniversary Atmosphere in Kyiv

• The day is described as somber, reflecting both the tragedy of the ongoing war and remarkable Ukrainian resilience.
  • “The resilience of the Ukrainian people remains undimmed.” – Zoya Sheftalovich (00:50)
• A multisided European showing with the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen, Portugal’s Antonio Costa, and other Central/Eastern European leaders present.
• Notable absence of prominent allies: No senior delegations from the US, UK, France, or Germany, affecting the mood among both Ukrainian and EU participants.

2. The Emotional Weight and Ukrainian Determination

• Despite winter hardship and relentless attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukrainians’ determination is undiminished.
  • “People have been freezing cold in their own houses. They still don’t have electricity in so many places…But still, no one is ready to give up.” – Zoya (02:47–03:52)
• Locations: Events began at Maidan Square, symbol of Ukraine's pro-European aspirations, before moving to the Intercontinental Hotel, a diplomatic “safe space.” (04:03)

3. The EU’s Stance and the “Hungarian Problem”

• Press conferences emphasized unity and determination not to let Viktor Orbán (Hungary) block the €90 billion loan to Ukraine or the latest EU sanctions on Russia.
  • “First of all, we need to implement what we agreed…the 90 billion euros loan to Ukraine. Nobody can disrespect the decision from the European Council.” – Antonio Costa (05:53)
• A shift in tone: Less patience for Hungary’s continued obstruction, with increasing EU readiness to bypass or confront veto tactics.
  • “I really detected a change in tone…it was quite the firmest I’ve heard people talk.” – Zoya (04:55)

4. Is There a Plan?

• Confident signals from EU sources and both Costa and von der Leyen that the loan will come through, one way or another.
  • “There was such a confidence that the solution to this impasse lies in the EU treaties and that there is something that the EU can pull out of its hat.” – Zoya (06:40)
• Message to Ukraine: Relief aid is already en route, and the larger loan will not be permanently blocked.

5. Ukrainian Public Sentiment and the Missing Americans

• Ukrainian officials and regular citizens express gratitude for European solidarity, but clear concern about the marked absence (and uncertain stance) of the US under the Trump administration.
  • “There is also this bemusement about the American position…there is definitely more optimism about the European path and really a sense of betrayal about what has happened with the United States…” – Zoya (08:30)
• Historically, the US was seen as a beacon of hope—a perception now badly shaken.
  • “I remember looking to the US as an example, as a shining beacon…Now I don’t understand what has happened.” – Zoya recounting a Ukrainian’s words (09:06)

6. Contrasts and Nostalgia in Kyiv

• Zoya reflects on her childhood memories of Kyiv and the way the city embodies both its Soviet past and wartime present—modernization juxtaposed with rubble and loss.
  • “Maidan Square looks so different…the country has modernized, but…you can drive past and see a car that has been obliterated in a strike.” – Zoya (10:09–11:02)

7. EU Membership: Ukraine’s Hopes and Time Pressure

• Zelensky and Ukrainian officials are pushing for a concrete 2027 accession date in any peace settlement.
• There’s a sense of urgency: upcoming elections in Hungary and France could close a brief window for meaningful progress.
  • “The Ukrainians really feel like this is their last chance…if they miss it, they’re concerned…they then will not be able to progress their bid until many years down the track.” – Zoya (11:12)
• EU officials are unlikely to commit to full membership on that timeline but may find ways to codify progress or offer symbolic assurances.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ukrainian Determination:
  “Still, no one is ready to give up. Everyone is persevering, and if anything, it’s making them more determined.”
  – Zoya Sheftalovich (03:52)

• On EU Unity Against Hungary:
  “Nobody can disrespect the decision from the European Council. We talked, we negotiated, we agreed, and then we need to deliver on this.”
  – Antonio Costa (05:53)

• On American Absence:
  “There is definitely more optimism about the European path and really a sense of betrayal about what has happened with the United States under the Trump administration.”
  – Zoya Sheftalovich (08:30)

• On the Change in Western Leadership:
  “I remember looking to the US as…a shining beacon of hope…Now I don’t understand what has happened.”
  – Ukrainian source, as recounted by Zoya (09:06)

• Nostalgic Reflection:
  “Everywhere, I just saw these buildings and I kept on photographing them because I just got these massive pangs of nostalgia…”
  – Zoya Sheftalovich (10:09)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Anniversary Commemoration and Leadership Presence: 02:16 – 03:57
• Events in Kyiv, Symbolism of Locations: 04:03 – 04:35
• EU’s Approach to Hungary and Loan Funding: 04:35 – 06:40
• Plan to Overcome the Impasse: 06:40 – 07:42
• Relief Package & Ukrainian Perspective: 07:48 – 08:15
• Ukrainian Public Sentiment on US/EU: 08:30 – 09:06
• Zoya’s Personal Reflections on Kyiv: 10:02 – 11:05
• Urgency for EU Accession Progress: 11:12 – 12:20

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Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is both candid and deeply informed, marked by empathy for Ukraine and a pragmatic reading of Brussels’ inside baseball. Zoya offers emotional, first-hand impressions, while Ian steers the discussion with sharp political context. The overall tone is clear, conversational, and reporting-driven.

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Summary prepared for readers seeking a vivid, concise, and thorough account of the episode’s essential content and atmosphere.

Transcript

[Amazon Sponsor]

Today's episode is presented by Amazon. Across Europe, businesses are growing with the AWS cloud to build innovative, scalable products from Europe's largest enterprises and government agencies to the continent's fastest growing startups. Learn more about how AWS Cloud is helping businesses across Europe grow@AWS EU Good morning.

[Ian Wishart]

It's Wednesday, 25th February, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. Today, Europe wakes up after a show of solidarity in Ukraine, marking four years since Russia's full scale invasion. We stand in Kyiv on a grim anniversary.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

But even in the face of this

[Ian Wishart]

terrorist, the resilience of the Ukrainian people remains undimmed.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

Europe has stood with us throughout these difficult, really difficult years and our people trust Europe.

[Ian Wishart]

They know we are not alone.

[Antonio Costa / Ursula von der Leyen]

You can rely on the European Union. We will be on your side for as long as it takes.

[Ian Wishart]

That was Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Antonio Costa speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv yesterday. The images projected unity despite the grim reality that von de Leyen described there. But without significant American, British and French presence, the day was also tinged with some disappointment. Back in Brussels, the politics stay complicated. Hungary and Slovakia continuing to test just how united the EU really is when it's trying to get a loan to Ukraine, additional sanctions on the Kremlin. I'm Ian Wishart, POLITICO's senior EU politics editor. My colleague Zoya Sheftolovich has been on the ground in Kyiv, accompanying the European leaders throughout the anniversary events. Zoya had a whirlwind 24 hours there in the country of her birth. I caught up with her yesterday evening just before she caught the train back. So, Zoya, you were there as the leaders gathered in Kyiv. How was it?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

It's a tough day. The anniversary of the war is always a tough day. I think today was particularly tough, firstly because we did have leaders from the Baltics and from Central and Eastern Europe, but there was no American presence, there was no French presence, no high level German delegation. So I think there was this sense here on the ground that people wished that there had been more people here.

[Ian Wishart]

Did you get that just from the Ukrainian side, or were some of the EU people talking about that as well? Were there whispers?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

There were whispers mainly from the Ukrainian side, but also from the eu. And there were certainly questions being raised about where was Emmanuel Macron, where was Keir Starmer today? You know, these are two staunch backers of Ukraine, but they were not on the ground. We didn't see them. So I think that really put Something of a pull on events which obviously were grim in any case, because what we're commemorating is a really tragic milestone. Four years of full scale invasion. So many people dead. And this winter in particular, I mean, it's been so, so crushing here, but still the determination. I really can't underscore the extent to which it exists. I was just talking with a Ukrainian government official who was telling me that everyone here has suffered over the last several months. You know, the Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have been shocking. People have been freezing cold in their own houses. They still don't have electricity in so many places. I mean, in a thousand homes in Kyiv, there's no heating and there won't be this winter. But still no one is ready to give up. Everyone is persevering and if anything, it's making them more determined.

[Ian Wishart]

Yeah. And where did all these events take place in Kyiv today? Was this in the main square or was this around the city?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

We started in Maidan Square this morning. That is of course, the Square where the 2004 and 2014 demonstrations broke out in support of a democratic change in Ukraine, in support of a European path forward. So that's where we started out the day. And then we subsequently then moved to the Intercontinental Hotel, which is kind of a safe space in Kyiv. It is where all of the high level delegations go and states, where the journalists go. So I think there is a sense that if any place in Ukraine is safe, it's here.

[Ian Wishart]

Looking at what suddenly Ursja von der Leyen and Antonio Costa said in their press conferences, there seemed to be quite a mood of determination that any move by the Hungarians in particular to block the loan to Ukraine, that they'll somehow manage to get around. That. Was that their main message?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

That was absolutely their main message. And it's actually a determination that I have detected really building and solidifying over the past 24 hours. It started on the train on the way into Kyiv. You know, at first there was this sense of the dejection and disappointment that this Hope that the 90 billion loan package was going to be delivered was dashed. But really I detected a sense of firstly an impatience with Viktor Oban, the Hungarian Prime Minister. I mean, I think he's been doing these shenanigans and trying to take down EU sanctions packages for years, for as long as the war has been raging. But I really detected a change in tone. It was quite the firmest I've heard people talk. And Antonio Kosta, he spoke with me and was really firm and very clear in terms of what he thought about this whole Hungarian kind of attempt to derail the sanctions. Is there a message you have for those who are stopping the EU from enforcing the 20th sanctions package?

[Antonio Costa / Ursula von der Leyen]

First of all, we need to implement what we agree the 18th of December to deliver the 90 billion euros loan to Ukraine. Nobody can disrespect the decision from the European Council. We talked, we negotiated, we agreed, and then we need to deliver on this. And this is what I'm expecting, that angry has immediately respect what we collectively decided last December.

[Ian Wishart]

So we're still trying to make sense what this means in practical terms. So when you were speaking to the diplomats on the train last night and then in the various places today in the city, did you get any sense that they have have a plan?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

I did. They really must have a plan because there was such a confidence that the solution to this impasse lies in the EU treaties and that there is something that the EU can pull out of its hat. We heard Antonio Kosta and Ursula von der Leyen say in their closing press conferences here in Kyiv today that there are tools and they will not hesitate to use them. And I was hearing that all day today, Ian. I mean, I was meeting with EU official after EU official. I was meeting with Ukrainian officials. And no one thinks this loan is going to be blocked by Hungary in the long term. There was a sense that it will relatively imminently become unblocked. So I think there is a plan, Antonio Kosha in particular, as well as Oslo von der Leyen, they said, look, the 27 EU countries in the European Council summit agreed to this loan. And so there is no way to go back on your word unless all 27 agree to that to make that change. So I think there is definitely something cooking and I suspect we're going to find out what it is relatively soon.

[Ian Wishart]

And you get the sense that that will wash with the Ukrainians. Was President Zelensky just as optimistic?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

President Zelensky did seem to indicate that he believed that money was coming. So I think whatever their bilateral meetings,

[Ian Wishart]

they've communicated that to him then?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

Yeah, I think so. I think they've said to him that this money is coming in any case, there is a short term solution. So as La von der Leyen came bearing a 100 million euro package for immediate relief from the winter crisis. So we know that that money is here, but really I get the sense that this money is coming in soon.

[Ian Wishart]

I doubt you've had time to speak to ordinary people there, have you? You've been bused around from Place to place following the leaders. I just wondered, you know, whether you got a sense of whether this show of European support has sort of filtered down to normal people.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

I think the show of European support has filtered down. You know, I've been speaking with people, staff at this hotel, you know, the train conductor on the way here. And there is a sense of European solidarity. But there is also this bemusement about the American position. And that's where I've started picking up on this kind of question of like, where are the Americans? What are they doing? There is definitely more optimism about the European path and really a sense of betrayal about what has happened with the United States under the Trump administration.

[Ian Wishart]

I guess that feeling would have been unthinkable, you know, three years ago even.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

Yes. And I was speaking with one particular person today who said to me, I lived through the Soviet period and I remember looking to the US as an example, as a shining beacon of hope and freedom and light. And now I don't understand what has happened. And I tell you what, I mean, I'm. I was born in Ukraine myself. I felt the same way growing up on the other side of the Iron Curtain, without any access to free information, without any, look, without food, living in a share apartment with, you know, two. Two families sharing two rooms, not two bedrooms in. My family shared a two room apartment with another family of five. We looked at the US As a beacon of hope. And it does feel like there is a sense of change that has occurred with this administration that I feel keenly as well, because I too remember the sense of feeling like the US Was the center of everything.

[Ian Wishart]

How old were you when you left?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

I was seven.

[Ian Wishart]

Ian, how does Ukraine look now? How does Kiev look now compared with how you remember it?

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

It's so funny because the theme that struck me the most is that there is a particular type of building paint that I just remember vividly from my childhood. My childhood home was painted pink with white kind of cornices. And it's a particular Soviet pink. And as we were sort of busing from one place to another, everywhere, I just saw these buildings and I kept on photographing them because I just got these massive pangs of nostalgia and hits of deja vu, because that is still the same, but in so many other ways it's so, so different. Maidan Square looks so different. The whole country has. On the one hand, it's modernized, but on the other hand, you know, you can drive past and see a car that has been obliterated in a strike. So it's really A shocking dichotomy sometimes where you've got elements of, of the past and elements of what is a very, very, very worrying and sad present.

[Ian Wishart]

And it's not just with the US that Ukraine has a problem. The Ukrainians also wonder when they'll become a member of the eu.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

Yeah, this is something that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for. He wants that 2027 accession date included in the peace deal. He wants the EU to give him 20, an accession prospect. The Ukrainians really feel like this is their last chance because there's a window of opportunity that they're seeing at the moment between April, which is when the Hungarian election is happening, and next year when we start getting the French election. And they see this as kind of a golden opportunity. And if they miss it, they're concerned that they then will not be able to progress their bid until many years down the track, maybe 20, 30, maybe even later than that. So I did pick up on this real urgency to get that date in the deal from the EU side. I think there is a willingness to be creative. I don't think anyone is going to say, yes, full membership for Ukraine in 2027. But I do get the sense that there will be some move made to, and, you know, I've reported on this, Ian, before, there will be a move made to ensure that Ukraine feels like it does have something codified around 2027.

[Ian Wishart]

Okay, Zoya, I know it's been a very intense 24 hours for you, so we won't keep you any longer. I know you've got a get the train back to Poland and then flight back to Brussels in the morning. So it's been really nice speaking to you. And we'll see you back when you're, when you're here tomorrow.

[Zoya Sheftolovich]

Thanks, Ian. Speak to you soon.

[Ian Wishart]

So that was the conversation with Zoya yesterday evening, and you'll be pleased to know that she'll be back in the host seat tomorrow morning here on the podcast. Before we go today, there's a couple of other stories I thought I'd tell you about that are on the Politico website that you might want to give a read. We've got a deep look at the election campaign in Hungary where the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, is harnessing this Ukraine issue and bashing Brussels to try to box in his rivals ahead of the poll in April. And we've also got a story on the German far right party, the AfD, and they're facing allegations of nepotism and that's it for the Brussels Playbook podcast today? Make sure as always, that you subscribe to our show wherever you listen to the podcasts, rate us, leave a review, tell your colleagues and friends, and thank you all for the messages we're getting on WhatsApp. Please keep them coming. We've had someone showing us a map of their favourite coffee spots around Brussels. We've had listeners telling us that we're already part of your morning routine. So that's nice to hear. You'll find our WhatsApp number in the show notes on your podcast platform and we'll be back tomorrow. I'm Ian Wishart. Thanks for listening.

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