Selenskyj personally in the Bundestag for the first time: Ukrainian President sees Ukraine fighting for the whole of Europe (tagesspiegel .de).

BERLIN: Volodymyr Selenskyj is visiting the capital on the occasion of the reconstruction conference for Ukraine. In a speech in the Bundestag, he will talk about Ukraine's role in the defense of Europe, among other things.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj has traveled to Germany. He is taking part in the international reconstruction conference for his country. It is Selenskyj's third visit to Berlin since the beginning of the Russian invasion more than two years ago. In the afternoon, the head of state of the country attacked by Russia also gave a personal speech in the Bundestag for the first time.

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He spoke after a welcome from Parliament President Bärbel Bas, who spoke of a joint defense of democracy for the whole of Europe with regard to the Ukraine war and promised reconstruction for the devastated country.

Selenskyj's speech in the Bundestag
In his speech, Selenskyj thanked Germany for supporting his country after the Russian attack. He emphasized Europe's role as a peace project. He is waging the war in the interests of all of Europe, said the Ukrainian president. A division of Ukraine should be prevented at all costs.

Russia will have to take full responsibility for the destructive effects of its aggression, demanded Selenskyj. "The time for compromises is over," said Selenskyj in the Bundestag. "Russia must pay for all the damage," he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin must lose this war.

2000 participants from 60 countries
Around 2000 representatives from around 60 countries are expected to attend the reconstruction conference. It is not a donor conference to raise money for reconstruction, but rather it is about networking the relevant players from politics, business, civil society and international organizations. The aim is to launch initiatives to promote companies or train skilled workers.

At the opening of the conference, Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked for further help with Ukraine's air defense and emphasized the country's economic potential.

Reunion in the Bundestag - this time live
In the Bundestag, Zelenskyj had already spoken to MPs on March 17, 2022, three weeks after the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. At that time, however, he was connected live to the plenary hall via video and practically begged the Chancellor for more military support: "Dear Chancellor Scholz, tear down this wall. Give Germany the leadership role that Germany deserves."

Germany is Ukraine's second most important supporter
Germany is now Ukraine's second most important supporter after the USA in terms of military and financial aid. Chancellor Scholz is still leaving Ukraine's wishes unfulfilled. For example, he does not want to supply Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers and, unlike French President Emmanuel Macron, is strictly against sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine. Macron announced last week that he and other countries wanted to send military trainers to the war zone.

In addition to Germany, the USA also does not want to participate. On Saturday, at an election campaign event in Duisburg, Scholz also spoke out against other NATO countries sending soldiers to Ukraine. "There will be no soldiers in Ukraine from our countries, and not from NATO either," he said.

Start of a series of summits
The conference is the start of a whole series of summits dealing with Ukraine. After the reconstruction conference, the G7 summit will take place in Apulia in southern Italy. One of the topics will be how frozen Russian assets can be used to support Ukraine.

Afterwards, Scholz and Selenskyj will go on to the Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland, for which, according to the government in Bern, around 40 heads of state and government have registered so far. Around 160 were invited. A further 40 states are expected to attend with other high-ranking government representatives.

Although it is the first such high-level international meeting on the topic of peace in Ukraine, it is not about peace negotiations. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, is not there. Countries such as China and others close to Russia have therefore turned down the invitation. Moscow has dismissed the meeting as a Western propaganda event in support of Ukraine. (dpa, Reuters, Tsp)

(tagesspiegel .de)

Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by World News 24. Publisher: (tagesspiegel .de)