Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky defended this Thursday in the Dutch parliament that “no aggressor will now think that he can destroy Europe’s values” and that Russia is “trying to hide its own weakness”.
“I am grateful that we have achieved the greatest possible unity in Europe that we have dreamed of for decades, and this could not have been achieved without the help of the Netherlands and its leaders.”Zelensky told delegates during his visit to the Netherlands.
For that reason, he welcomed the fact that the country has defended “freedom, the rule of law and democracy” as well as “Europe and its way of life” by helping Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022 and has since been fuses. a war against the Russian occupation, which has not spared civilian life and infrastructure.
Zelensky also thanked “because The Hague becomes an axis of justice on behalf of all those who have suffered aggression and other crimes”referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in that city, which is investigating war crimes committed in Ukraine and has issued an international arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Children’s Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for kidnapping at least 16,000 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the war.
The Ukrainian head of state also claimed that the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Western Defense Bloc) summit scheduled for July is an opportunity to “turn off the oxygen to Russian revanchism once and for all” and that “it is time to get out”. of security uncertainty” in Europe.
“It is absurd to leave Ukraine outside the legal framework of our common territory, namely Europe”he insisted, before drawing a parallel, saying that “it would be like leaving part of the Netherlands outside the legal scope of the country, in a gray area”.
In this regard, he asked the Dutch authorities to “take important decisions at a strategic level for the security of Europe” and recalled that “defense implies more weapons”.
“We want to destroy the evil of these terrorist states”he continued, referring to the actions of Russian troops.
“Every week we witness something terrible (…) Nuclear plant occupations, missile launches”he described, adding that these “vile acts must make the country (Russia) lose”.
According to Zelensky, “the terrorist state must feel that the world does not even want to have a relationship with it”. that a change is needed in his country’s regime”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.6 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries -, according to the latest data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion – justified by Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions to Russia.
The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war, which today has entered its 435th day, 8,709 civilian deaths and 14,666 wounded, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
