Nicolas Tonev (in Ukraine), edited by Laura Laplaud with AFP
modified to
1:41 p.m., June 16, 2022
Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi arrived at kyiv station on Thursday morning. This trip is a first for the leaders of the three main countries of the European Union, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. They should visit at the end of the morning, in a residential district of Irpin in the suburbs of kyiv, the exhibition dedicated to the martyrs of this city that our special correspondent, Nicolas Tonev, was able to discover exclusively (video at the top of this article) .
This district of Irpin was bombed on February 26, two days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the spot, the traces of mortars are very present and show that it was impossible to survive during the battle. Buildings, homes have all been hit, gutted, burned by the bombardments which lasted for weeks without interruption.
Carry “a message of European unity”
Upon his arrival in kyiv, the French head of state announced that he wanted to convey “a message of European unity”. He will also hold a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at 2 p.m. But relations between the two presidents have become somewhat strained in recent days, especially after the French president’s appeal not to humiliate Russia. Emmanuel Macron wanted to reassure the Ukrainian people of his full solidarity: “We will continue this support over time in all its forms.”
“There is also political support. That’s what we wanted to do in order to both realize, show our respect and our admiration for the courage of Ukrainian men and women and to be able to have this exchange with the President Zelensky and talk about what’s next,” he explained.
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he would help Ukraine “as long as it takes”. During this visit, “we not only want to show our solidarity, we also want to ensure that the aid we are organizing: financial, humanitarian, but also when it comes to arms, will continue”, he said. He underlines.
Show the horror of war
For some Ukrainians like Vassili, interviewed on the spot, the visit of this delegation can serve to make people understand the monstrosity of this war. “All these visits are very useful, the more delegations there are, the more the world becomes aware of the horror of this war, of the real events, of what happened, of this cruelty. there are still far too many who do not believe in it,” he said.