Emanuel Macron and Klaus Johannes , as well as the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, after Their visit to Irpin earlier on Thursday morning. the German newspaper Bild.
“We Europeans stand firmly by your side,” Solz wrote in a Twitter message on the occasion of his meeting with Zelensky.
the Ukrainian President for the reception, as well as the French President Emanuel Macron , the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and the Romanian President Klaus Johannes for the open discussion in Kyiv.
For his part, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the four Heads of State and Government of France, Germany, Italy and Romania for their solidarity with his people.
< "We greatly appreciate your solidarity with our country and our people," Zelensky wrote on the Telegram app. >
Meanwhile, it signaled a second air raid during a visit by European leaders to Kyiv today, according to a German News Agency reporter. # 8211; “Russia is heading for disaster,” Olaf Solz, Emanuel Macron and Mario Draghi were quoted as saying. visited the half-ruined suburb of Kiev, Irpin, and saw up close what was left of the Russian bombing.
It is one of the cities on the outskirts of Kiev that has become a symbol of the destruction and atrocities committed during the occupation of the region by the Russian army in March.
European leaders, along with Romanian President Klaus Johannes, were guided by Ukrainian soldiers , accompanied by important security personnel and a large number of journalists.
Irpin en Ukraine. Nous avons vu la ville dévastée et les stigmates de la barbarie. Et l’héroïsme, aussi, des Ukrainiennes et des Ukrainiens qui ont arrêté l'armée russe alors qu’elle descendait sur Kiev. L’Ukraine résiste. Elle doit pouvoir l'emporter. pic.twitter.com/yzwBGBJ5dx
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 16, 2022
Like other foreign leaders who had gone to Kyiv before & # 8217; Macron, Soltz, Draghi, and Johannes walked the streets of Irpin, where bombardment signs are ubiquitous.
planned reconstruction projects, and then saw a video of a few minutes showing Irpin three months ago, when fighting was raging there. On the walls of a ruined building, one read “Make Europe Not War “, an inscription that Macron saw and commented on: “is the right message (& # 8230; ) is very moving to see. “
Draghi: We will rebuild everything
” We will rebuild everything “, The Italian Prime Minister assured the Ukrainians today. Mario Draghi, after visiting Irpin, a suburb of Kiev.
The Russians “destroyed kindergartens, playgrounds. “Everything will be rebuilt,” Draghi told reporters as he watched the devastated streets of the Ukrainian city.
for their “hopes”, “for & # 8217; what they want to do in the future “.
According to him, “they have already started”, mainly thanks to an application that “records every part that was destroyed”. So the authorities “know exactly where the sites need to be rebuilt,” he told reporters. Seeing the dilapidated houses and streets of Irpin after the Russian bombing, German Chancellor Olaf Solz said that Russia was heading for disaster: “This says a lot about Russia's aggressive war, which is simply ready for disaster. We must keep this in mind in everything we decide. The devastation caused by this war is terrible. And it's even worse when you see how incredibly irrational this violence is. “
Macron: A city marked by the stigmas of barbarism /em>
For his part, the French president said that massacres and war crimes were committed in Irpin and hailed the “heroism” of the Ukrainians.
“It is a heroic city, marked by the stigmas of barbarism,” Macron said. to journalists. “We have all seen these images of a ruined city, which is at the same time a heroic city since it was here, among other things, that the Ukrainians stopped the Russian army coming down to Kyiv . It therefore represents the heroism of the army, but also of the Ukrainian people, “he added.
Irpin, a northwestern suburb of Kiev, was the scene of fierce clashes between Russians and Ukrainians during the first days of the Russian invasion in late February. The Russian army quickly occupied the pre-war suburb, which numbered 62,000 , and retained control during March.
Kyiv has since accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Irpin and the neighboring cities of Bhutan and Borodyanka, following the discovery of hundreds of civilian bodies in those towns following the withdrawal of the Russian army in late March.
The BFM television network broadcast live the arrival of the train , on which the three European leaders were riding, in the Ukrainian capital.
Solz, who was wearing jeans < and a black polo shirt, Macron in a suit, white shirt and no tie, and Draghi in a spring blue sweater, arrived at the train station dock , where they were accompanied by the ambassador of France to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen.
“It's an important moment. “It's a message of unity to the Ukrainians,” Macron said as he arrived in Kyiv to meet with the Ukrainian president. “Sirens sounded as Olaf entered his hotel. Solts, according to Bild!
Asked why the visit is taking place now, an Elysee Palace official said the three leaders thought it would be best to do so before EU summit next week to discuss Ukraine's request for membership in the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission will present its opinion tomorrow on Ukraine's EU membership questionnaire, something most major European countries face warmly.
& # 8220; The good time to & # 8217; This visit will be to the European Council on 23 and 24 June , where a strong symbolic move by the Ukrainians is expected & # 8221 ;, said the same official.
& # 8220; Must be found a balance between Ukraine's reasonable aspirations to join the EU at a very special time and the attention we have to show to all countries that already have candidate status and are stuck in the accession funds, as well as the fact that we should not destabilize or fragment the EU & # 8221 ;, said the same source.
