French President Emmanuel Macron, along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, visit the city of Irpin, devastated by the Russian invasion.
In a gesture of strong symbolic value, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, the three main countries of the European Union, traveled to Kiev this Thursday, where they will meet Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky. when visiting Irpin, a town on the outskirts of the capital, you can see firsthand the extent of the devastation wrought by the Russian invasion. Zelensky thanked the “solidarity” of these three countries, while his defense minister called for new weapons to “recapture” the Russian-occupied territory.
The presence of Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi in Ukraine is intended to show European support at a difficult time in the war due to the advance of Kremlin troops in the Donbas region, in the east of the country. The trip also takes place a few days before the celebration of several international meetings in which Ukraine’s fate can be decided: the European Council, the G-7 meeting and the NATO summit to be convened in Madrid at the end of this month.
After their planes landed at Rzeszów airport in southeastern Poland last night, Scholz, Macron and Draghi boarded a train that took them to Kiev after an 11-hour journey. Before they had to stop at the border, which they crossed on foot, they later held a meeting in the convoy that lasted until two in the morning. The meeting took place in the car reserved for Macron, whose residence was much larger than that of Scholz and Draghi, who complained that theirs were “basic”, a difference the Italian prime minister justified by the condition of the Gallic leader . of the European Union.
When the train arrived in Kiev, anti-aircraft alarms sounded, as usual since the invasion began on February 24, due to the risk of Russian bombing. “We have come to send a message of unity to all Ukrainian citizens. A statement of support, because the coming weeks will be very difficult,” Macron noted as he stepped out of the convoy. The German chancellor, for his part, had already made it clear that his country is ready to continue to help Ukraine for as long as it takes. not only show our solidarity, but also ensure that financial, humanitarian and arms assistance continues,” Scholz told Bild newspaper, stating that the support will continue as long as the Ukrainians’ “struggle for independence” continues.
The unity shown by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy with their visit to Kiev is also a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who “thought he would divide us, but failed,” the Italian prime minister said. Some weeks ago . During the visit to Irpin, Draghi, along with Macron and Scholz, stressed the urgent need to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible in order to resume peace negotiations. The Italian then took the opportunity to respond to President Zelensky’s adviser Oleskjy Arestovych, who expressed concern before the arrival in Kiev of the three European leaders that the visit was intended to force the Ukrainian government to make a concession. which would allow for an agreement with Russia ending the war. “I’m afraid they will try to reach a sort of Minsk 3,” Arestovych said, referring to protocols reached in the Belarusian capital in 2014 that “frozen” clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian fighters in Donbas.
“I have repeatedly stated that it must be Ukraine, and no one else, who decides what peace it accepts. It cannot be an imposed peace,” the Italian Prime Minister said, stressing that an agreement that is unacceptable to the authorities and the people of Ukraine would not be “sustainable” in the medium and long term. At the same time, Draghi stressed the importance of restoring war-torn areas, even though a possible end to the armed conflict is not yet in sight. “We will rebuild everything,” he promised after hearing first-hand about the situation in Irpin.
From Moscow, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, responded to the visit of Scholz, Macron and Draghi to Kiev in the hope that the trip would not only serve to “fill Ukraine even more with weapons”, which in his opinion would be useless because ” It will prolong the suffering of the people and cause even more damage to the country.”
Source: La Verdad
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