EU and different Western leaders and dignitaries have been in Kyiv on February 24 to ship a defiant message on the second anniversary of Russia’s launch of its all-out invasion of Ukraine that they intend to proceed supporting Ukraine towards Moscow’s aggression.
The anniversary got here with the Ukrainian navy in want of kit and provides, particularly ammunition, and Moscow trying to prolong its current battlefield acquire within the Donetsk area, the place its forces recaptured the principally destroyed metropolis of Avdiyivka.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy instructed his countrymen in a recorded video deal with from a Kyiv-area airport that was a scene of intense combating early within the invasion that two years of bitter combating means ”we’re 730 days nearer to victory.”
”Two years in the past, we met an enemy touchdown pressure right here with hearth,” Zelenskiy mentioned, earlier than including references to the array of overseas leaders who have been in Ukraine to mark the anniversary. ”Two years later, we meet right here our mates, our companions.”
He added that it was vital that the battle finish ”on our phrases.”
Zelenskiy later welcomed European Fee President Von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, whose nation at the moment holds the rotating EU Presidency.
Meloni and Trudeau signed safety agreements with Zelenskiy throughout their go to, and Meloni hosted a videoconference of the Group of Seven (G7) at which Zelenskiy spoke, telling the leaders he’s relying on them to proceed serving to Ukraine.
On her arrival, von der Leyen mentioned alongside a photograph of herself on a prepare platform in Kyiv that she was there to mark the grim anniversary ”and to have a good time the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian individuals.”
”Greater than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine,” she mentioned, ”Financially, economically, militarily, morally…[u]ntil the nation is lastly free.”
Earlier than arriving in Ukraine, Trudeau shared his Overseas Minister Melanie Joly’s sentiment by way of X, previously Twitter, that Canada and its allies have been ”sending a transparent message to [Russia]: Ukraine is not going to be defeated within the face of Putin’s unlawful battle.”
Protesters rallied in Berlin, London, Paris, Belgrade, and different European cities as individuals gathered to indicate help by waving the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag and demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin put an finish to the battle.
Phrases of help poured in from Western leaders.
U.S. President Joe Biden praised the dedication of Ukrainians and mentioned ”the unprecedented 50-nation world coalition in help of Ukraine, led by the USA, stays dedicated to offering crucial help to Ukraine and holding Russia accountable for its aggression.”
”The American individuals and folks around the globe perceive that the stakes of this combat prolong far past Ukraine,” he mentioned.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Germans and all Europeans to ”do much more — in order that we are able to defend ourselves successfully.”
Scholz mentioned that Germany was fully fulfilling its NATO goal of two % funding of whole financial output into its navy for the primary time in many years.
Lately put in Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk cited ”Two years of Ukrainian heroism. Two years of Russian barbarism. Two years of shame of those that stay detached.”
Maia Sandu, the president of Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova, the place considerations are excessive and a long-standing contingent of Russian troops has refused to depart, thanked ”Ukrainians for his or her tireless combat for freedom and for safeguarding peace in Moldova too.”
”In these two years, the free world has proven unprecedented solidarity, but the battle persists; our help should endure fiercely,” she mentioned on X.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned ”We should renew our dedication…on this grim anniversary. That is the second to indicate that tyranny won’t ever triumph and to say as soon as once more that we are going to stand with Ukraine at present and tomorrow.”
The anniversary got here at some point after the USA and European Union introduced new rounds of lots of of sanctions concentrating on Russia and officers accountable for the battle, however with Ukrainian officers desperately pleading with the worldwide group to keep away from cutoffs in help or a ”depletion of empathy.”
Ukrainians have battled fiercely since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, after Putin, angered by Ukraine’s aspiration to hitch NATO, tried to forged doubt on Ukrainian nationhood and ultimately mentioned Moscow’s objective was ”denazification” and demilitarization of Ukraine.
It was a brand new section in a land seize that had begun eight years earlier in 2014, when Russia covertly invaded after which annexed Crimea from Ukraine and commenced intensive help of armed Ukrainian separatists in jap Ukraine.
The United Nations has overwhelmingly voted to again Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty.
WATCH: Present Time correspondents Borys Sachalko, Andriy Kuzakov, and Oleksiy Prodayvod mirror on their wartime experiences along with the cameramen and drivers who type a crucial a part of their reporting groups.
However an enormous help package deal proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been blocked primarily by Republicans in Congress.
The European Union managed to move its personal $54 billion assist package deal for Ukraine earlier this month regardless of reluctance from member Hungary and speak of Ukraine fatigue.
NATO Secretary-Normal Jens Stoltenberg mentioned in a recorded assertion for the anniversary that ”the scenario on the battlefield stays extraordinarily critical” and ”President Putin’s purpose to dominate Ukraine has not modified, and there aren’t any indications that he’s getting ready for peace. However we should not lose coronary heart.”
Earlier this week, Stoltenberg instructed RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that the alliance was a bonus that neither Russia nor China may match.
On the UN Normal Meeting on February 23, Ukrainian Overseas Minister Dmytro Kuleba mentioned ”Russia’s purpose is to destroy Ukraine and they’re fairly outspoken about it,” including that ”The one motive for this battle has been and stays Russia’s denial of Ukraine’s proper to exist and its continued colonial conquest.”
Russian forces final week captured the principally destroyed jap metropolis of Avdiyivka as remaining Ukrainian troops withdrew amid reported ammunition shortages handy Moscow its first vital acquire of territory in practically a yr.
The Russian navy mentioned on February 24 that Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu visited troops in occupied Ukraine in a transparent effort to ship a message to Ukraine and its defenders, in addition to to a Russian public subjected to heavy censorship and punishments for anti-war dissenters because the ”particular navy operation” has floor on.
”Immediately, when it comes to the ratio of forces, the benefit is on our aspect,” officers quoted Shoigu as telling troops at a Russian command heart.
The Russian navy additional mentioned its troops have been on the offensive after having taken Avdiyivka, within the Donetsk area.
Zelenskiy used an interview on the conservative Fox Information channel this week to induce the U.S. Congress to move a $60 billion assist package deal to assist his nation defend itself, saying it’s cheaper than the implications of a Russian victory.
Zelenskiy echoed warnings amongst Russia’s different neighbors that Putin will push additional into Jap Europe if he conquers Ukraine.
”Will Ukraine survive with out Congress’s help? After all. However not all of us,” Zelenskiy mentioned.
On February 24, senior Zelenskiy aide Mykhaylo Podolyak mentioned Ukraine was auditing its ”obtainable assets” and mentioned it is unattainable to foretell when the battle may finish with out a good suggestion of the quantity of weapons and ammunition Kyiv can have at its disposal.
He additionally instructed the Ukrainian president’s workplace isn’t at the moment in favor of peace talks with Russia as it could imply the ”gradual loss of life of Ukraine.”
Individually, Swiss President Viola Amherd was quoted as telling the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper that Russia was unlikely to take part initially of a senior-level peace convention that impartial Switzerland hopes to host within the subsequent few months.
The remarks adopted Swiss Overseas Minister Ignazio Cassis telling the United Nations that the thought was broached in January and Bern hoped for such a convention ”by this summer time.”
Russia at the moment is believed to manage round one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
The Ukrainian navy mentioned it had destroyed a Russian A-50 surveillance plane after a brand new spherical of Russian drone and missile strikes on a number of Ukrainian areas on February 23, which if confirmed would mark the lack of the second A-50 in simply over a month.
The overall appointed not too long ago by Zelenskiy as commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskiy, mentioned on February 24 that he’s ”satisfied that unity is our victory.”
”And it’ll positively occur,” he mentioned, ”as a result of gentle all the time conquers darkness!”
Noting the two-year mark within the invasion, Ukraine’s Normal Workers asserted that Russia had suffered troop casualties of round 409,000 since February 24, 2022.
Each side classify casualty figures, and RFE/RL can not verify the accuracy of accounts by both aspect of battlefield developments in areas of heavy combating or of casualty claims.
With reporting by dpa, AFP, and Reuters