On Wednesday, the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and demanded that Russia be held accountable for the acts of its forces on the ground.
Since Russian military withdrew from the country’s north earlier this month in the face of robust Ukrainian opposition, European lawmakers have poured by train to Kiev.
Prior to meeting with Zelenskiy, the four presidents paid a visit to Kyiv-region locations where hundreds of killed civilians had been uncovered following Russia’s pullout. Moscow has denied culpability, calling charges that Russian troops committed war crimes in the country ‘fake news.’
At a news conference in Kyiv, Polish President Andrzej Duda, surrounded by Zelenskiy and the leaders of the Baltic states, remarked, ‘This is not war, this is terrorism.’
‘We’re not only talking about the soldiers who perpetrated those crimes; we’re talking about those who issued orders as well,’ he stated.
Russia has denied that its soldiers targeted civilians and has said that claims of war crimes made by Ukraine and the West are false.
The other visiting presidents expressed a desire for Russia to be held accountable, and said they planned to press the international community to increase military support for Ukraine as it prepares for an escalated onslaught by Russia in the east.
‘It is our responsibility to assist Ukraine with all types of armaments,’ Latvian President Egils Levits stated.
‘The future of Ukraine will be decided on the battlefield… Ukraine must prevail,’ his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda declared.
The four presidents’ visit comes a day after US Vice President Joe Biden called Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine ‘genocide,’ while Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that Moscow will continue its operation ‘rhythmically and calmly’ to achieve its objectives.
On February 24, Putin dispatched troops to Ukraine in what he describes as a ‘special military operation’ to demilitarise and ‘denazify’ the country. Ukraine and its allies accuse Putin of launching an unjustified aggressive campaign.
‘President Putin must lose this war or Europe will be at war,’ Estonian President Alar Karis stated.
After German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier cancelled a visit to Kyiv at the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed ‘irritation.’ It was meant to ‘send a strong signal of European unity with Ukraine,’ he said. Kyiv, according to Scholz, did not want Steinmeier to visit. find out more
However, at a news conference on Wednesday, Zelenskiy stated that he had not been approached by Steinmeier or his staff regarding the visit.
Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to his visitors in Kyiv for standing ‘shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine.’
He stated, ‘Those four leaders of the four nations are constantly safeguarding us, always sticking up for us.’
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