“No one has calm waters in a storm”

In a brief speech by videoconference before the European Parliament to commemorate the 1,000 days of war, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskywarned European leaders this Tuesday that there will be no security in the EU if the Kremlin is victorious in its attempt to invade their country. “They must do everything possible to end this war fairly and together“, he claimed.

Without ever pronouncing his name, Zelensky has once again criticized the German chancellor, Olaf Scholzfor his telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin that ended two years of isolation of the Russian leader. “While some European leaders think about elections or something like that at the expense of Ukraine, Putin is focused on winning this war. He is not going to stop alone,” the Ukrainian president stressed.

The Government of kyiv calls on its European allies to redouble their sanctions against Moscow and provide it with more weapons, with full freedom to hit targets within Russian territory. “Putin does not value people or rules. He only values ​​money and power. These are the things we must take away from him to restore peace,” Zelensky stressed.

“Every day is the best time to put more pressure on Russia. And it is clear that, without certain key factors, Russia will lack real motivation to engage in meaningful negotiations: without fires in their ammunition depots in Russian territorywithout disruptions in its military logistics“, without destroyed Russian air bases, without loss of capacity to produce missiles and drones and without confiscation of its assets,” he insisted.

The Ukrainian president has assured that North Korea, which has already sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia, plans to increase its military contingent to 100,000. “Even with Kim Jong-un’s North Korea on his side, Putin is still smaller than the United States of Europe. I ask you not to forget this, and not to forget everything that Europe is capable of achieving,” he concluded.

The day that marks 1,000 days of the war in Ukraine is also the day that Josep Borrell bids farewell as EU High Representative for EU Foreign and Security Policy. He does so by presiding over a meeting of defense ministers (the 123rd of his five-year mandate) which he has also attended. Margaret Robleswhich has avoided the press.

Borrell has called on member states to maintain their military support for Ukraine even if the president-elect of the United States, donald trumpdecides to turn off the tap to force a negotiated solution with Russia. “Europeans cannot adopt a reactive attitude. They cannot sit back and wait to see what the Americans do and then react. We cannot wait for Trump to decide. Our support for Ukraine must continue“he said.

Of his five years in office, “what will remain in my memory was one day (February 24, 2022), at 6 in the morning, when the phone rang and a voice told me: They are bombing kyiv.” “With this short phrase, they are bombing kyiv, at 6 in the morning, a new era of our history opened“Borrell said.