EU sanctions here to stay

 As  part of her state of the union address earlier this week, Ursula von der Leyen made no apologies for the EU's hard line against Russia.

Von der Leyen began her speech by praising Ukraine's resistance against Russia's invasion, describing the country as a "nation of heroes" and vowing the EU's solidarity will "remain unshakable."

Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, was her guest of honour and received a standing ovation from MEPs.

"Today, courage has a name, and that name is Ukraine," von der Leyen said, adding she will travel to Kyiv later in the day. "Putin will fail and Europe will prevail."

The Commission chief also unveiled several proposals to align Ukraine with the single market, including by extending the European free-of-charge roaming area, and support its reconstruction, with €100 million to rebuild damaged schools.

However, she did not present any plans for new weapons delivery, as Kyiv continues to demand in the midst of a lighting counteroffensive.

She added that the EU should have listened to eastern European countries that "have been telling us for years that Putin would not stop."

Von der Leyen then spoke about Russia, the state of its economy and the high price that Vladimir Putin is paying for his "trail of death and destruction."

"The Russian military is taking chips from dishwashers and refrigerators to fix their military hardware, because there are no semiconductors anymore," she said. "Russia's industry is in tatters."

"It is the Kremlin that has put Russia’s economy on the path of oblivion," she added.

In what appeared to be a direct rebuke to critics who claim the EU's hard line against Russia will eventually collapse under the weight of the energy crisis, von der Leyen sought to dispel any doubts.

"I want to make it very clear: the sanctions are here to stay," she said. "This is time for resolve and not appeasement."