As the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning, air raid sirens bellowed.

The sirens do not always indicate an attack, although they frequently sound as a warning.

The heads of state of France, Germany, and Italy, arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning for a high-profile visit aimed at easing relations over what Ukrainian officials see as lukewarm backing in their struggle against Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi took a special train from Poland at midnight to arrive in the city together.

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Air raid sirens rang off soon after the three leaders arrived at their hotel in central Kyiv, almost poetically, to remind them that they were in a country frightened by the threat of an unwarranted attack at any given time.

Despite the fact that all three nations have pledged weaponry to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made no secret of his belief that they are not doing enough.

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He has been notably scathing of Scholz and Macron, going as far as implying the two leaders were seeking to please Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“[Scholz] and his government must choose not to do a balancing act between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, but to choose which is their priority, ” Zelensky said earlier this week on German network ZDF.

Macron has also received scathing criticism from Zelensky. The French President has attempted to portray himself as both an ally of Ukraine and an honest broker with Russia.

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Macron stated in an interview earlier this month that “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means. I am convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power .”

According to Zelensky, “in order to be a leader, you do not need to consider yourself one, but to behave as a leader.”

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Macron told reporters at the Kyiv train station that the leaders would visit a “war site where the massacres were committed” and meet with Zelensky.

When asked whether he had any words for Ukrainians, he replied, “A message of European unity addressed to Ukrainian men and women, of support to talk about both the present and the future because the coming weeks, we know, will be very difficult weeks. I want to be in support and at their side. “