The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia traveled to the embattled Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday in a show of support for Ukraine even as bombardment by the Russian military edged closer to the center of the city. The three leaders went ahead with the hours-long train trip despite worries within the European Union about the security risks of traveling within a war zone. “It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance,” Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Twitter. The long journey over land from Poland to Kyiv by Morawiecki, Poland’s deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Prime Ministers Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic and Janez Jansa of Slovenia sent the message that most of Ukraine still remains in Ukrainian hands. But underlining the deteriorating security situation in Kyiv, a series of strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the city again on Tuesday. Zelenskyy posted a video on Facebook of him sitting around a table with the leaders briefing them on the war’s developments. After the meeting, he said he was sure “with such friends” Ukraine would be able to defeat Russia. Read: Russia-Ukraine war: Key things to know about the conflict “And most importantly, we absolutely trust the leaders of these countries and, therefore, when we speak of security guarantees, of our future in the European Union, or speak of sanctions policy, we know 100% that everything we are discussing will really lead to that positive goal for our country, for our security and for our future,” Zelenskyy said. Fiala said the main purpose of the visit was to tell Ukraine it is not alone. “We know you’re fighting for your lives ... but we also know you’re fighting for our lives, our freedom,” Fiala said. “Probably the main goal of our visit, the main message of our mission, is to say that you’re not alone. Our countries stand by you. Europe stands by you.” The Central European leaders said they were on an EU mission. But officials from the 27-nation bloc insisted that the trio had undertaken the trip independently. All three countries were once part of the communist bloc and now belong to both the EU and NATO. Jansa described the visit as a way to send a message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to be accepted one day into the EU. Two weeks earlier, Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament on that very subject. “We are fighting also to be equal members of Europe,” Zelenskyy told EU lawmakers on March 1. “I believe that today we are showing everybody that is what we are.” Jansa said the war has awoken Europeans to idea that the bloc represents fundamental ideas that are under threat — and which Ukrainians are defending with their lives.

Stocks were mixed in Asia and oil prices fell Monday as uncertainty over the war in Ukraine and persistently high inflation kept investors guessing about what lies ahead. Tokyo and Sydney advanced while Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai declined. U.S. futures were higher. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to keep negotiating with Russia, as Russian forced bombarded a military training base near the Polish border, killing nine and wounding dozens of people. Talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire failed again on Saturday, Russia’s widening of its offensive to the western part of Ukraine comes amid warnings over the widening impact from the conflict. Moody’s Investor Service said it was reviewing its credit ratings for both countries in view of rising security, economic and financial risks. Read: Brent crude up $10, shares sink as Ukraine conflict deepens Spreading outbreaks of coronavirus in China have added to uncertainties, with authorities ordering a lockdown in the technology and manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, that could worsen supply chain disruptions. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 3.8% to 19,779.91 and the Shanghai Composite index slipped 1.3% to 3,266.73. Chinese shares have also come under selling pressure due to the threat of de-listings of major Chinese companies on U.S. stock exchanges. A report in the state-run newspaper Economic Daily said Monday that regulators are negotiating to resolve a dispute over auditing rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to require that U.S.-listed foreign stocks disclose their ownership structures and audit reports. That has come on top of technology-related sanctions against some companies. Wang Sheng, head of the investment banking division at China International Capital Corp, said in an opinion piece that China and the U.S. should be able to strike a deal. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6% to 25,318.75 and the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.2% to 7,147.80. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9% to 2,637.07. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.3% to 4,204.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7% to 32,944.19, while the Nasdaq composite index gave up 2.2% to 12,843.81. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slipped 1.6% to 1,979.67. World markets have been rocked by dramatic reversals as investors struggle to guess how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect prices of oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region. Read: World shares drop after Putin orders troops to east Ukraine That’s raising the risk the U.S. economy may struggle under a toxic combination of persistently high inflation and stagnating growth. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at its meeting this week as it and other central banks act to stamp out the highest inflation in generations, while trying to avoid causing a recession by raising rates too high or too quickly. Amid all the uncertainty, U.S. stocks remain about 10% below their peak from earlier this year, while crude oil prices remain more than 40% higher for 2022 so far. U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $3.16 to $106.17 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged $3.31 per barrel on Friday to $109.33 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the standard for international pricing, declined $3.05 to $109.59 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 117.83 Japanese yen from 117.35 yen. The euro weakened to $1.0906 from $1.0926.