Rallies in support of Ukraine are planned for this weekend in many European capitals, on the tenth day of the Russian invasion.
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Thousands of people took part in a huge ‘peace procession’ in central Rome on Saturday organized by several trade unions and numerous NGOs to protest against the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops and say ‘no’ to Putin and also in NATO.
“No base, no soldier, Italy out of NATO”, chanted the pacifists in this procession preceded by a large flag in the colors of the rainbow. Many placards also proclaimed “No to Putin, no to NATO”.
“This is perhaps one of the first real demonstrations for peace. Here nobody believes that we make peace with arms, that we make it by sending arms to one of the parties”, Ukraine, famous Italian cartoonist, actor and writer Vauro told AFP. Senesi.
Italy decided to send weapons to Ukraine, but did not reveal the details of these military supplies.
“There are no just wars or smart bombs”, launched for his part the boss of the most important Italian trade union confederation, the CGIL (left), Maurizio Landini.
“We don’t stop the war with other wars and we don’t stop it by sending weapons to the Ukrainian people. We stop the war by sending the UN to Ukraine”, added Mr. Landini.
A position that does not share Luigi Sbarra, head of the CISL (Catholic) confederation, second in importance in Italy and who refused to join the pacifist procession, explaining in an open letter that it is not possible to put on the same plan “oppressed and oppressors”.
On the side of Zurich, tens of thousands of people demonstrated to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops in Ukraine, reported the Swiss news agency ATS.
Like last week, other demonstrations are planned in several other Swiss cities, in particular in the federal capital Bern.
In Zurich, the demonstrators were united under the slogan “Peace now”. The unions and left-wing parties in particular had called for this demonstration.
Protesters carried “Stop War” or “Peace” signs and Ukrainian flags.
Organizers expected it to gather up to 20,000 people, but they estimate there were more than 40,000 at the final rally, according to ATS.
Asked by AFP about these figures, the Zurich cantonal police did not respond immediately.
The demonstrators demanded an immediate ceasefire, diplomatic negotiations and the withdrawal of Russian troops, Swiss public television SRF reported.
After showing caution at first, Switzerland, attached to its neutrality, then stuck to the sanctions of the European Union, ordering the immediate freezing of the assets of Russian personalities and entities appearing on the blacklist. of the EU.
The Federal Council (government) is also considering granting special protection status to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. A decision should be made in the next few days.
The same is true in Paris, where thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday afternoon to protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to say “no to war in Europe”, noted a journalist from the AFP.
“We will be there every weekend, in Paris or elsewhere, until Mr. Putin leaves, withdraws his tanks,” Aline Le Bail-Kremer, a member of Stand With Ukraine, told AFP. at the initiative of the rally in the French capital.
“It’s very important to be here,” said a protester, Bernard Arnaud, 47, blue suit and yellow shirt in Ukrainian colors. “Mr. Putin is so unpredictable. I will come back as much as possible”, he added in the middle of the signs “Stop War”, “Putin assassin” or “Save Ukraine”.
“Despite the suffering, we are going to win, we are sure of it,” said Nataliya, a Franco-Ukrainian, who did not wish to give her name to protect her son who remained in her country. “We are proud of their courage, their determination”.
Rallies in support of Ukraine are planned in more than a hundred cities in France, with some 25,000 demonstrators expected in total, according to a police source.
Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people in yellow and blue colors marched across Europe: a few thousand in Russia, at least 100,000 in Berlin, 70,000 in Prague, 40,000 in Madrid in particular.
In London, hundreds of people, carrying Ukrainian flags, demonstrated on Saturday to demand an end to the invasion of Ukraine and to pray for peace.
Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square in the center of the British capital, holding placards reading ‘Putin kills’ and ‘Total embargo against Russia’ and shouting ‘Stop Putin, stop the war!’
“When the last Ukrainian soldier falls, Putin will come for you, ladies and gentlemen,” proclaimed a giant banner.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Britain, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, read a prayer, including saying “Today we are all Ukrainians.”
Olena Marcyniuk, 36, came to the protest with her children aged 14 months and nine years. “I am Ukrainian and I have family and friends in Ukraine,” she told AFP. Most of his family fled, but his uncle remained in Kiev “to fight for the city”.
“We must continue to remember everyone, we must remain united to support our country,” adds the mother, who hung a Ukrainian flag around her waist and on the child’s stroller.
“Maybe we can somehow get the message out to Russia as well, that the world is for Ukraine and we need to start taking action to stop the war,” he hopes. she.
The mother and stepfather of Natalya Courtney, 41, are in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, “where they have come under shelling for the past two days”.
“We are doing what we can to help by sending money, collecting parcels, medical aid for the soldiers, but it’s really very, very stressful, really upsetting,” said the manager in charge of the school accounts.
It calls on Westerners to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a measure that NATO refuses to consider because of the risk of the war spreading beyond this country.
“Help us win the war on the ground, because these are bombardments on innocent civilians, children, women, the elderly … it is simply a massacre”, she adds.
For Briton Paul, a 35-year-old software designer who did not want to give his last name, it is “frightening” to see history repeating itself and “more must be done” on a humanitarian level and against ” propaganda” of Russia.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca