The session of the German Bundestag on Thursday opened with a video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he reproached Germany for realizing Russia so late.
In addition to the deputies, members of the government, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Ukrainian diplomats were present in the hall, “Ukrinform” correspondent reports.
Zelensky thanked for the help, but at the same time stressed that “many support steps were belated and insufficient.” He recalled the close ties between German business and Russian business, that for a very long time Ukraine warned that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was a preparation for war, “but in response I heard only: this is the economy, the economy, the economy.” Zelensky also recalled that German politicians constantly said that Ukraine’s membership in NATO “is not on the table and not in the foreseeable future.” According to him, the situation is repeated with the issue of EU membership. “For many, this is politics, but these are stones for a new wall,” the President warned.
It is the unwillingness to understand, respond in time, and help Ukraine that powerfully build new dividing walls in Europe. Ukraine does not want to look at Europe through this wall, the President emphasized.
At the same time, he thanked ordinary Germans who help refugees, journalists who tell the truth about the war, and German firms that “put morality ahead of profit.”
“We need help from Europe,” Zelensky stressed. At the same time, he noted that the “air bridge” proposed by Germany cannot be implemented, unlike in the middle of the last century, because “only Russian missiles come to us from the sky.”
Zelensky said that Russian troops do not distinguish between military and civilian objects, for them everything is a target. And also about the tragedy of Mariupol and other cities. “You can see it all if you look over the wall.”
The head of the Ukrainian state stressed that every year in Germany they repeat: Never again. But those words mean nothing now.
Zelensky ended his speech with the well-known words of US President Ronald Reagan to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev: Mr. President, tear down this wall. “And I ask you, dear Mr. Chancellor: tear down this wall; give Germany the leading role it deserves. Support Ukraine, stop this war, help us stop this war!”
It should be reminded that early in the morning of 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special military operation in Ukraine, aimed at ensuring the security of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, as well as removing the “Nazi regime” in Ukraine.
The US and the EU have assessed Russia’s move as a direct aggression by Russia against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The Verkhovna Rada has declared martial law in Ukraine.
