Why Ukraine's longshot bid to join the EU is likely to enrage Putin
CNN
Four days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine and started a bloody war that shows no signs of ending soon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially applied for the country to join the European Union.
On the same day, February 28, he asked that the EU "urgently admit Ukraine using a new procedure ... our goal is to be with all Europeans and, to be equal to them. I am sure we deserve it. I am sure it is possible."
Nearly four months later, the EU Commission is expected to offer its opinion on Friday that Ukraine should be considered a candidate state. It will then be for the 27 EU member states to decide whether or not they agree with the Commission's opinion.
President Joe Biden asserted Friday that Hamas has been degraded to a point where it can no longer carry out the type of attack that launched the current 8-month conflict in Gaza, laying out a three-phase proposal Israel has submitted to wind down the grinding crisis as he declared, “It’s time for this war to end.