Volodymyr Zelensky makes fresh security demands as Europe leaders descend on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has demanded EU candidacy status for his war-torn country and a package of sanctions against Russia ahead of Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz’s visit to Kyiv.

In a speech to the Czech parliament via videolink, Mr Zelensky warned Russian forces would not stop at Ukraine and could attack other countries.

“Russia is not interested only in our Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv. No, its ambitions are directed on a vast area from Warsaw to Sofia," he said.

“As in the past, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first step that the Russian leadership needs to open the way to other countries, to the conquest of other peoples."

As well as membership to the bloc, Kyiv is pushing for Brussels to expand on its six rounds of economic sanctions against Russia to help starve the war machine of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

"The sooner Ukraine is strengthened, the sooner Europe acts as one in sanctions to cut off Russia from large financial flows, the weaker Russia will be," said Mr Zelensky in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF.

His intervention came ahead of an expected visit to the Ukrainian capital on Thursday by Mr Macron, the French president, and Mr Scholz, the German chancellor, as well as Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister, to make the case for peace.

Ukrainian officials have not been able to hide their displeasure at Mr Macron's dovish attitude towards Moscow.

Their frustrations were compounded on Wednesday, when the French president hinted that Western support for Ukraine in its war against Russia could soon run out.

"The time will come when we have done all we can to help Ukraine resist," he said, while on a visit to Romania and Moldova.

"When, as I hope, Ukraine will have won and the fighting ceased, we will have to negotiate," he added.

"The Ukrainian president and his leaders will have to negotiate with Russia."

Over the past months, France has championed a ceasefire - but many in Kyiv see this an attempt to freeze the current conflict, with Russian troops still occupying vast swathes of Ukrainian territory.

Mr Scholz is also facing a revolt from within his own government to give the green light to Ukraine's membership bid.

Lawmakers from his Social Democratic Party have said Kyiv must strike a peace deal with Moscow before talks could begin. But his two coalition partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats, are pushing for things to move quicker.

The opposition is also set to table a motion next week to pressure Mr Scholz on the issue.

The US has said it will not compel Kyiv to accept a ceasefire, even as Russia appears to make gains in the brutal battle over the eastern Donbas region.

"We’re not going to tell the Ukrainians how to negotiate, what to negotiate and when to negotiate," said Colin Kahl, the US under secretary of defence policy.

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Ukraine is not willing to concede territory in the eastern part of the country to end the war, and that the conflict will only end when Russia troops have been driven out.

Part of his post-war hope for Ukraine is EU membership, with Kyiv pushing for official candidate status.

The European Commission is expected to grant Ukraine the status on Friday, after a vote by its top officials.

But there are deep divisions amongst the EU's member states, which are ultimately responsible for admitting new members.

Supporters of Ukraine's bid argue that any delay in granting candidate status would be deeply demoralising.

But opponents of quick accession, including Mr Macron, have warned it could take decades for Ukraine to join the bloc under current procedures.