Berlin. French Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed their “full support” for Ukraine yesterday, May 9, as they addressed the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a symbol of the Cold War, illuminated in the colors of the invaded country. for Russia.
“Full support for Ukraine,” declared the French head of state as he approached on foot with the German chancellor before some 200 people present.
Located in the center of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was, until 1989, part of the wall that separated the communist and western sectors of the city for decades, becoming a symbol of the Iron Curtain.
For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who paid a surprise visit to Odessa yesterday, May 9, said that Moscow will not be able to “execute” Ukraine’s “freedom” and promised that the European Union will stand by kyiv ” as long as it takes.”
He said it in the framework of the day of the European Union.
“Preemptive Strike”
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday defended the offensive in Ukraine during the military parade commemorating the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.
Before the thousands of soldiers who participated in the parade in Moscow’s Red Square, Putin once again justified his decision to have launched an offensive against Ukraine on February 24, alleging that kyiv was preparing an attack against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. , wanted to equip itself with the atomic bomb and received the support of NATO.
“A totally unacceptable threat was building, right on our borders,” he said, again accusing the neighboring country of neo-Nazism and calling the offensive a “preemptive response.” It was the “only right decision” possible, he added.
The United States responded to what Putin said. “Calling this a defensive action is patently absurd,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
“It is an insult to those who have lost their lives and to those who have been victims of this senseless oppression.”
Taisia Chepurina, 81, the widow of a fighter who took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, was at the parade in Moscow, a sepia photograph of her husband in her hand.
For her, there is no doubt that the Russian offensive in Ukraine is justified, since the Ukrainian Nazis are “shooting at our soldiers”.
“President Putin is doing very well in politics, bravo, he is making sure that our boys do not die, that as little blood as possible is spilled, I bow to him,” he exclaimed with a bow, echoing the arguments from the official media.