By Pavel Polityuk and Andrew Gray
KYIV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepared to lobby European leaders on Thursday at a summit in Brussels for more weapons in the fight against Russia and a quick start to EU membership talks for his country.
In addition to attending an EU summit, Zelenskiy was due to address the European Parliament during his visit to the Belgian capital, the third stop on a European trip.
While the Ukrainian leader is unlikely to secure immediate pledges to satisfy his requests, the visit gives him a chance to make his case in person with the EU's 27 national leaders for the first time since Russia's invasion nearly one year ago on Feb. 24, 2022.
The trip was only Zelenskiy's second known time out of his country since the war began and followed a surprise visit to Washington in December.
The president started on Wednesday in London, where he won a British pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He then met French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris for talks over dinner. Both vowed continued support for Ukraine, and Zelenskiy again pressed for advanced arms.
"France and Germany have the potential to be game changers and that's how I see our talks today," Zelenskiy said. "The sooner we get heavy long range weapons and our pilots get modern planes ... the quicker this Russian aggression will end."