Zelensky urges Germany to tear down the new ‘Wall’ in Europe that

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has today urged Germany to tear down the new ‘Wall’ in Europe that ‘is growing bigger with every Russian bomb’. 

In an emotion address to parliament, Zelensky also accused Germany of putting its economy before his country’s security in the run-up to the Russian invasion. 

‘It’s not a Berlin Wall – it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb’ dropped on Ukraine, he told MPs.

Appearing on a screen in his trademark khaki t-shirt and dark rings under his eyes, Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag with a standing ovation.

In a speech steeped in historical imagery from Germany’s triumph over its Cold War division, Zelensky addressed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly with a call for greater solidarity with Ukraine.

‘Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall,’ he implored, evoking US President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 appeal in Berlin.

‘Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve.’

However he coupled his flattery with a strong rebuke of Berlin’s years-long reluctance to stand up to Moscow and sever its energy and business ties with Russia.

He pointed to Germany’s hesitancy when it came to imposing some of the toughest sanctions on Russia for fear it could hurt the German economy. 

‘We turned to you,’ he said. ‘We told you that Nord Stream (gas pipelines) was a kind of preparation for the war.’

‘And the answer we got was purely economic – it is economy, economy, economy but that was the mortar for the new Wall.’

Pictured: Zelensky is seen on screen in his trademark khaki t-shirt as he was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag with a standing ovation on March 17 in Berlin

Zelensky referred to an missile stroke on a theatre in Mariupol yesterday (pictured) which was being used as a shelter for civilians. Mariupol mayor’s office said a bomb shelter at the theatre had ‘withstood’ and there were survivors, but details of casualties were still not known

Zelensky also called for more help for his country, saying thousands of people have been killed in the war that started almost a month ago, including 108 children.

Referring to the dire situation in the besieged city of Mariupol, he said: ‘Everything is a target for them, including a theatre where hundreds of people found shelter that was flattened yesterday.’

This comment came after an official in the Mariupol mayor’s office said a bomb shelter at the theatre had ‘withstood’ and there were survivors, but details of casualties were still not known.

Russia denied striking the theatre, which commercial satellite pictures showed had the word ‘children’ marked out on the ground in front before it was blown up.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 prompted an overhaul of key planks of Germany’s energy, economic and security policy – some of them dating back to the end of World War II.

It has put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on ice, joined allies in imposing punishing sanctions on Ukraine and pledged a massive increase in defence spending while dropping a ban on arms exports to conflict zones in order to aid Ukraine.

Germany has also said it aims to be nearly free of Russian oil imports by the end of this year although it still remains heavily dependent on Russian gas.

In a speech steeped in historical imagery from Germany’s triumph over its Cold War division, Zelensky addressed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (pictured listening to Zelensky’s address on Thursday) directly with a call for greater solidarity with Ukraine

However Berlin has resisted an outright halt to Russian energy imports, warning it would cause winter shortages and drive inflation, creating potential instability in Europe’s top economy.

Zelensky stressed that the future of the continent was at stake in the current war and argued that governments across the West were failing to meet the moment.

‘Every year politicians repeat ‘never again’,’ the Ukrainian leader said, referring to annual Holocaust commemorations.

‘And now, we see that these words simply mean nothing. A people is being destroyed in Europe,’ he said, noting that 108 children had been killed in his country since the start of the Russian offensive.

‘Help us stop this war.’

Despite his blunt criticism, MPs gave Zelensky another standing ovation after his 15-minute address and Scholz, in a tweet, thanked him for his ‘forceful words’.

‘We see that Russia is continuing every day to wage its cruel war, with horrible losses,’ he said.

‘We feel obliged to do everything we can so that diplomacy has a chance and the war can be stopped.’

Russian forces in Ukraine are blasting cities and killing civilians but no longer making progress on the ground, Western countries said on Thursday, as a war Moscow was thought to have hoped to win within days entered its fourth week.

Pictured: A member of the Ukrainian military surveys an area next to a residential building that was hit by an intercepted missile, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 17, 2022

Viacheslav Chaus, governor of Chernihiv, a northern city that has been intensely bombarded, said 53 civilians had been killed there in the past 24 hours. The toll could not be independently verified.

Although both sides have pointed to limited progress in peace talks this week, President Vladimir Putin, who ordered Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, showed little sign of relenting.

In a vituperative televised speech, he inveighed against ‘traitors and scum’ at home who helped the West, and said the Russian people would spit them out like gnats.

Kyiv and its Western allies believe Russia launched the unprovoked war to subjugate a neighbour that Putin calls an artificial state carved out of Russia. Moscow says it is carrying out a ‘special operation’ to disarm it and ‘denazify’.

Heavily outnumbered Ukrainian forces have prevented Moscow from capturing any of Ukraine’s biggest cities so far despite the largest assault on a European state since World War Two.

More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled and thousands of civilians and combatants have died.