Putin defends Ukraine invasion as ‘prevention’, talks about NATO ‘threat’

In his Victory Day speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the invasion he ordered today on Ukrainian territory was a preemptive attack against “aggression”, referring to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). “NATO countries didn’t want to listen to us. That means they actually had very different plans.” Ukraine reacted to the speeches of the Russian president.

According to Putin, there was “an unacceptable threat to us at our borders” with the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. For the Russian president, invading Ukraine was an act to defend Russian territory, and he also referred to Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.

“We’ve seen how the military infrastructure has evolved,” he said, referring to regular deliveries of the most modern weapons from NATO countries. For Putin, “the danger has grown with each passing day”, reinforcing his belief that the invasion was the right decision, “timely and uniquely,” as a “preemptive rejection of aggression.” “The decision of a sovereign, strong and independent country.”

Today, Russia celebrates the 77th anniversary of its victory over the Nazis in World War II. A military parade was held in Moscow and other Russian cities, where Putin spoke. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, about 11,000 military personnel took part in the parade in the country’s capital.

In the nearly 11-minute conversation, there was no official declaration of war against Ukraine or the announcement of the intensification of a “military operation” – the Russian term for the occupation of Ukraine – as the Ukrainian government and its allied countries had envisioned. last weeks. Last week, Russia had already denied doing so.

In his speech, Putin also said that everything possible must be done so that the “horrors of a new world war” are not repeated.

Two and a half months after the conflict began, fighting is intensifying in the east of the country. Russia had to curb its ambitions to quickly take the country and the capital, Kiev, in the face of strong resistance from the Ukrainian troops armed by the Western countries.

there is no peaceful way

The Russian war in Ukraine has reached its 75th day today. In his speech, Putin referred to the soldiers who lost their lives in the conflict and stated that the government would help families. A minute’s silence was observed in their memory. “The death of each of our soldiers and officers is our collective grief and an irreparable loss to their friends and families.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said 1,351 soldiers were killed, but at least 2,099 soldiers were declared dead or missing, according to Russian media. Ukraine reported 25,650 casualties on the Russian side, including 150 between yesterday and today alone. Figures could not be verified with independent sources.

Soldiers participating in the Russian war in Ukraine were also in Moscow after the military parade. “Today you stand for something that our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents fought for. For them, the well-being and security of the homeland has always been the highest meaning of life. And for us their heirs, their loyalty” The Motherland is the main value, reliable for the independence of Russia It’s a support,” he said.

The President of Russia also commented, “You are fighting for your homeland, for your future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War.”

After the parade, after meeting with the father of a battalion commander who died in Ukraine, Putin said that he had no chance to resolve the conflict peacefully.

“If we had a chance to solve this problem in other peaceful ways, of course we would use this chance. But they didn’t give us this chance, they just didn’t,” said Putin. A report by the Russian news agency Tass. The Russian president also said that “all plans have been fulfilled” in Ukraine.

Western

According to Putin, Russia “always advocated the creation of an equal and indivisible security system, a system of vital importance to the entire world community.” “Last December we offered to sign a security guarantee agreement. Russia urged the West to have honest dialogue, to find reasonable compromise solutions, to consider each other’s interests. All for nothing! NATO countries did not want to hear us.”

In his view, given the rapprochement between NATO and Ukraine, this “absolutely unacceptable threat” showed that a conflict would be “inevitable”, in which Russia was “forced” to “prevent aggression”.

Putin’s speech caused a reaction in Ukraine. “NATO countries do not attack Russia,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the President of Ukraine. “Ukraine did not plan to attack the Crimea. The Russian army does not defend its own country, it is trying to invade another country. There was no logical reason for this war, except the painful imperial ambitions of the Russian Federation.”

Russia said it continues to engage in dialogue with Ukraine on the conflict, but there has been no face-to-face meeting between the delegations of the two countries since March 29. There is no forecast when the Russians and Ukrainians will meet again.

In an interview published today with the German newspaper Die Welt, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told “once again” Putin “to end the war as soon as possible, withdraw his troops from Ukraine and start peace talks”. “We are absolutely on the side of Ukraine and will continue to help the country defend its right of self-defense,” he said.

“Another Victory”

Ukraine will not allow Russia to “own the victory over Nazism”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today. “Today we celebrate the day of victory over Nazism. We are proud of our ancestors who defeated Nazism along with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory. We will not allow this to happen. It is appropriate,” he said. In a video where she appears walking down a street in the center of Kiev.

Zelensky referred to several cities in eastern and southern Ukraine that are now under the control of the invading Russian forces, and that the Ukrainians during World War II He claimed to have driven Nazi German forces out of these areas during World War II. “On the day of victory over the Nazis, we are fighting for another victory. The road to this victory is long, but we have no doubts about our victory.”

“We won then. We will win now,” the Ukrainian president said, referring to Russia’s invasion of his country on February 24. “Our enemy imagined that we would cease to celebrate May 9 and the victory over the Nazis so that the word denazification would have a chance,” he added. One of the reasons Putin cites to justify the invasion is the “minorization” of Ukraine.

Ukraine in the EU

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the opinion on Ukraine’s accession to the EU (European Union) should be announced in June.

The declaration will take place on Europe Day, when the EU remembers the presentation of the Schuman Declaration proposed by then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, which would become the bloc’s embryo.

Speaking at the conference on the future of Europe today, von der Leyen said that the image of Europe is a dream “much stronger than any military parade on the streets of Moscow as he speaks”. “An image that reminds us never to underestimate what Europe is and what it means. Europe is a dream. A dream that has always existed. A dream born of tragedy.”

The head of the European Commission also said that this dream is now “shining more and more in the hearts and minds of the people” in Ukraine as well. “These people, young and old, are ready to fight and die for their future and the European dream. That’s the dream that has always been. That dream that was always meant to be.”

Ukraine awaits attacks

“The probability of missile strikes across Ukraine is high,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said in a report released today.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that at points on the border with Russia, it sees “continuing the transfer of personnel and military equipment for the replacement of units in Ukraine, which suffered significant losses.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that it attacked the Odessa region in the south of Ukraine with high-precision missiles and destroyed the helicopters.

Russian forces also launched attacks on Ukrainian military equipment in eastern regions such as Donetsk and Kharkiv. In the Zolote region, also to the east, a US-made radar station was reportedly destroyed by Russia.

In total, the Russians are said to have killed about 350 Ukrainian soldiers between yesterday and today.

(with Reuters, Ansa, RFI, DW and AFP)