Scholz lashes out in Kyiv against Putin, who “is limited to destroying and conquering”

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, thanked today the visit in kyiv of the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Romania, as well as their solidarity. “A busy day. Important meetings. A pleasure to meet with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, the prime minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, and the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, in kyiv,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram account.

The message is accompanied by images of the meeting between the four European leaders and the Ukrainian president. Previously, Zelensky had announced that Macron, Scholz, Dragui, and Iohannis They were in kyiv. “We appreciate your solidarity with our country and our people,” he said.

Scholz, Draghi and Macron have walked the streets of the Ukrainian city of Irpin, taken for weeks by Russian forces and that “it is at the same time a devastated and heroic town”, in the words of the French president. The three leaders have visited the area accompanied by a Zelensky adviser, at the start of a political agenda with which they want to reiterate their support for the Ukrainian authorities and people in the face of the invasion ordered by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on 24 February.

“Here the Ukrainians stopped the Russian Army advancing towards kyiv”, Macron highlighted, who has seen “the traces of barbarism” in the first person. The French president has pointed out that Irpin – where almost 300 civilian bodies were found after the Russian withdrawal – and other areas near the capital have been the scene of war crimes, according to public television.

Macron has called to continue supporting Ukraine so that it can “resist and win”, for which it has positioned itself “unambiguously” on the side of a country that now aspires to strengthen ties with the European Union. Both the French president and the German and Italian leaders plan to pass this message on to Zelensky himself in person.

For his part, Draghi has pointed out that “all this has to be seen and known”, so that the world is aware of what has happened in enclaves such as Irpin and Bucha. The Italian prime minister has addressed a Ukrainian commander to say: “The world is on your side”, according to the AdnKronos agency.

For Scholz too, Irpin is an example of the “brutality of war” initiated by Putin, “which is simply bent on destroying and conquering”. In this sense, he has declared that Irpin is “a very important reminder” of the need to act in the face of Russian “brutality”, reports the DPA agency.