Ukraine president’s plea to EU: prove that you are with us

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to the EU to "prove that you are with us" and help "light win over darkness" in a passionate address to the European parliament after Ukraine's membership application.

In the speech made by videolink from Kyiv on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said his people, including those killed by missile strikes on Tuesday in the country's second city, Kharkiv, were sacrificing their lives for European ideals in the fight against the invading Russian forces.

"Nobody's going to break us. We're strong, we're Ukrainians. We have a desire to see our children alive, I think it is a fair one," Zelenskiy said. "We are fighting for survival. We are fighting to be equal members of Europe."

He added: "We are exactly the same as you are. So do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine".

The appeal came as France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, declared that the EU was "waging an all-out economic and financial war on Russia", describing the sanctions packages as proving "extremely effective".

He told France Info radio. "We will cause the collapse of the Russian economy."

The comments drew an angry response from Russia's former president and prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chair of the security council of the Russian Federation.