Zelensky takes a swipe at Ireland for 'ALMOST standing with Ukraine' while praising nations who have backed Kyiv - but says Europe was 'too slow' in imposing sanctions that could have stopped Putin
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky made the comments during an address to European Council summit
- He namechecked EU states before saying Ireland almost stood with Ukraine without adding further comment
- Taoiseach Micheal Martin, speaking at the meeting in Brussels, played down Zelensky's comments
- He thanked Europe for imposing sanctions on Russia but said they came too late to prevent the invasion
- He said a gas crisis could have been averted if Nord Stream was blocked earlier by the German Chancellor
- And he called on neighbouring countries to approve Ukraine's request to join the European Union
By STEPHEN WYNN-DAVIES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 20:05 AEDT, 25 March 2022 | UPDATED: 00:31 AEDT, 26 March 2022
The Ukrainian president has criticised Ireland for not abandoning its policy of neutrality despite Russia's brutal invasion of the country - while hitting out at Europe for being 'too slow' to impose sanctions that could have stopped Vladimir Putin at the border.
Addressing the European Council, Volodymyr Zelensky namechecked EU member states - noting in turn what he saw as the level of support the country had given Ukraine. 'Ireland, well, almost,' Mr Zelensky said, without adding further reasons for his comment.
While fully backing the Ukrainian push for EU membership, Ireland has not abandoned its position of military neutrality in the face of the Russian assault. EU leaders have so far resisted the call to accelerate the accession of Ukraine to the bloc.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin, speaking on the second day of the European Council meeting in Brussels, played down the comments, claiming the Ukrainian leader was talking in terms of the 'European perspective'.
In his address, Zelensky scolded Europe for being too 'late' imposing sanctions on Russia, saying Vladimir Putin would 'never' have invaded if measures had been 'preventative'. 'You have imposed sanctions and we are grateful. These are strong steps,' he said. 'But it was a little late, because if it had been preventative, Russia would never have started a war.'
The Ukrainian president had called for sanctions to be imposed starting weeks before Russia's attack, but the West refused - saying the measures were intended as a deterrent and should therefore only be used if and when the invasion had already started.
The Ukraine leader said Russia 'would not have created a gas crisis' in Europe if the Nord Stream 2 gas line, which runs from Russia to Germany, had been blocked earlier.
Germany eventually halted certification of the $10 billion natural gas pipeline after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz long resisted including it as a possible sanction if Russia invaded Ukraine.
Zelensky also called on neighbouring nations to approve Ukraine's request to join the European Union, adding: 'Here I am, asking you not to be late. Please.'
Volodymyr Zelensky scolded Europe for being too 'late' imposing sanctions on Russia and said Vladimir Putin would 'never' have invaded if measures had been 'preventative'
He made the comments during a late-night address to the European Council summit in Brussels in which he outlined the destruction Russia had caused his country
Why Ireland is neutral
While fully backing the Ukrainian push for EU membership, Ireland has not abandoned its position of military neutrality in the face of the Russian assault.
The policy of neutrality partly dates back to the country's struggle against British imperialism and colonialism and remains in place as many citizens view wars as morally wrong - a poll showed many young people and supporters of left-wing parties back remaining neutral.
During World War Two, Ireland remained militarily neutral interning German pilots and giving British pilots permission to travel home via Northern Ireland.
After World War Two, Ireland refused to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) because of partition - Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK.
As a result of this policy, Ireland requires a formal government decision, authorisation by the UN Security Council and approval by the Irish parliament to deploy Irish military power overseas.
The policy is strongly supported by Green politicians, mostly favoured by those in Fianna Fáil while Fine Gael politicians have historically questioned it.
Despite staying militarily neutral, Ireland has not stayed politically neutral - something Taoiseach Micheal Martin has stressed when discussing the war in Ukraine.
Ireland has committed millions of euros in non-lethal aid to Ukraine and has also taken in more than 10,000 Ukrainian refugees, with thousands more expected to arrive after the Government removed any requirement for visas.
He went on to list out EU member states and where they stand on the invasion in Ukraine. The UK was not mentioned in Zelensky's list having vacated its seat on the European Council following its withdrawal from the European Union.
Zelensky said the countries standing with Ukraine included Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Malta, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Cyprus.
However, when he referred to Ireland and Portugal he paused and said 'well, almost'.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has stressed that Ireland is not politically neutral and has committed millions of euros in non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
Ireland has also taken in more than 10,000 Ukrainian refugees, with thousands more expected to arrive after the Government removed any requirement for visas.
Mr Martin insisted Zelensky 'was actually talking in terms of the European perspective'.
He said: 'I wouldn't have taken the same slant as some may be taking from it.
'I can't surmise in terms of what implication there is except I spoke to him last week and he was very strongly in praise of the Irish contribution, both from a humanitarian perspective, in terms of our clear support for Ukraine's application to join the EU, and he thanked me personally for my own personal commitment to that.
'I am not going to surmise in terms of whatever particular take you would take from the use "almost" or "practically".'
He said people should not read too much into the comments.
'We are a militarily-neutral country, but again we facilitated the EU Peace Facility, which has been of enormous support to the Ukrainian people.
'I wouldn't overstate it, quite frankly.'
Zelensky used his address to appeal directly to Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and compared the current situation in Mariupol to the mass killings on the Danube Bank, which is today commemorated with sculptures of shoes honouring the Jews who were killed in Budapest during the Second World War.
Zelensky said: 'Listen, Viktor, do you know what's going on in Mariupol? Please, if you can, go to your waterfront. Look at those shoes. And you will see how mass killings can happen again in today's world.
'And that's what Russia is doing today. The same shoes. In Mariupol, there are the same people. Adults and children. Grandparents. And there are thousands of them. And these thousands are gone.
'And you hesitate whether to impose sanctions or not? And you hesitate whether to let weapons through or not? And you hesitate whether to trade with Russia or not?
'There is no time to hesitate. It's time to decide already.'
The leader's address came exactly a month after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
Zelensky said: 'It all started on February 24. From Russia. When the missiles flew early in the morning against our peaceful cities. People had still been sleeping when death had already come.
'Russia sent armoured vehicles against us, brought several thousand tanks to Ukraine. It's hard to count how many of them have already been burned, how many can still kill us.'
He added: 'Bombs fell on our people from planes that took off from Belarus and they didn't even admit that they did it. Russia captured the Chernobyl NPP and staff there have not been released for 24 days. Imagine, people lived 24 days at such a facility. These are our people.
'Russian tanks fired at the Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant. Russia fired missiles at Babyn Yar. It has already destroyed more than 230 schools and 155 kindergartens, and killed 128 children.'
He said Russian troops have fired missiles at universities and used rocket artillery to burn residential neighbourhoods, cities and villages, reducing them to 'ash'.
He also said the Russian military have killed journalists despite seeing the word 'press' written on their uniforms.
Referring to Mariupol, a strategic city heavily besieged by Russian forces, Zelensky said: 'This is a blockade that nobody could have imagined in our time. Hundreds of thousands of people without water, without food, under constant shelling, under constant bombing.
'The Russian militaries deliberately blow up hospitals, maternity hospitals, shelters, knowing for sure that people are hiding there.'
He also referred to the killing of 96-year-old Borys Romanchenko, a man who survived four Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, but was killed when a Russian projectile flew into his apartment in Kharviv.
'Russian troops are using phosphorous bombs, rape women, loot houses, destroy churches - all churches, even those of the Moscow Patriarchate', he added.
'They have abducted more than 2,000 children from Ukraine. We don't know where our 2,000 children are.
'They fire at humanitarian convoys and don't care who's there - children, women, church representatives who accompany the humanitarian cargo.'
He said Ukraine 'never dreamed of war' and was urging 'strangers' to lay down their weapons and return home.
A destroyed Russian T-72 tank (left) and armoured vehicle (right) are seen in the village of Lukyanivka, around 35 miles to the east of Kyiv, after a successful counter-attack by Ukrainian forces
A Ukrainian soldier (left) stands next to the wreckage of a T-72 tank after it was destroyed in counter-attacks east of Kyiv
Counter-attacks continue to the east and west of Kyiv, with the village of Lukyanivka back in Ukrainian hands on Friday morning while heavy fighting has been reported at Borodyanka as Kyiv's men try to encircle Russian troops there
A Ukrainian soldier walks beside the ruins of Russian armour that was destroyed during a counter-attack east of Kyiv
A Russian soldier with a heavy machine gun walks in front of the ruins of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles east of Kyiv
With Russian advances at a standstill across Ukraine, Kyiv's men are increasingly looking to go on the counter-attack - striking to the west and east of Kyiv, attacking Kherson from Mykolaiv, and trying to blunt a Russian pincer movement to encircle troops in the Donbass at Malynivka and Izyum
Zelensky was speaking during high-level meetings of the EU, G7 and NATO as the interlocked alliances decided on new packages of measures to help Ukraine and punish Russia as the war drags into its second month.
The US and EU announced a new partnership to reduce the continent's reliance on Russian energy, a step top officials characterized as the start of a years-long initiative to further isolate Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses energy to 'coerce and manipulate his neighbors' and uses the profits from its sale to 'drive his war machine'.
Biden said the partnership he announced jointly with a top European Union official will turn that dynamic on its head by reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy sources, as well reducing the continent's demand for gas overall.
The president said such a step is not 'only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint" but "it's going to put us on a stronger strategic footing.'
Under the plan, the U.S. and other nations will increase liquified natural gas exports to Europe by 15 billion cubic meters this year, though U.S. officials were unable to say exactly which countries will provide the extra energy this year. Even larger shipments would be delivered in the future. .
At the same time, they will try to keep their climate goals on track by powering gas infrastructure with clean energy and reducing methane leaks that can worsen global warming.
Although the initiative will likely require new facilities for importing liquified natural gas, the partnership is also geared toward reducing reliance on fossil fuels in the long run through energy efficiency and alternative sources of energy, according to the White House.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's executive arm, said it is important for Europe to shift away from Russia and toward energy suppliers that are trustworthy, friendly and reliable.
'We aim to reduce this dependence on Russian fossil fuels and get rid of it,' she said.
Russian energy is a key source of income and political leverage for Moscow. Almost 40% of the European Union's natural gas comes from Russia to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry.
Biden was leaving Brussels after the announcement and heading to Rzeszow in Poland, where U.S. troops are based roughly an hour's drive from the Ukrainian border.
He will be briefed on the humanitarian response to the refugees streaming out of Ukraine and those still suffering inside the country. He also will meet with U.S. service members from the 82nd Airborne Division, who serve alongside Polish troops.
Biden is then expected to fly to Warsaw for talks Saturday with Polish President Andrzej Duda and an address to the Polish people before he departs for Washington.
While in Brussels, Biden participated in a trio of summits hosted by NATO, the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the European Union, all on Thursday. The extraordinary series of meetings reflects heightened concerns about the war in Ukraine, which has entered its second month.
Although Ukraine has resisted the Russian invasion much more successfully than initially expected, the conflict has become a grueling and bloody affair, with thousands of casualties on each side and millions of refugees fleeing the country.
Western leaders are also concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use chemical or even nuclear weapons to regain momentum in the war.
Getting more liquefied natural gas to Europe could be difficult, even though the U.S. has been dramatically increasing its exports in recent years. Many export facilities are already operating at capacity, and most new terminals are still only in the planning stages.
Most U.S. shipments already go to Europe, according to the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, an industry lobbying group. Although much of the supply is already contracted out to buyers, there are still opportunities to shift its destination.
'The U.S. is in a unique position because it has flexible LNG that can be rerouted to Europe or to Asia, depending on who's willing to pay that price,' said Emily McClain, gas markets analyst at Rystad.
Even if the U.S. can ship more gas to Europe, the continent may struggle to receive it. Import terminals are located in coastal areas, where there are fewer pipeline connections for distributing it.
And if all Europe's facilities were operating at capacity, the amount of gas would likely be only about two-thirds of what Russia delivers through pipelines.
Members of the band Antytila, singer and bandleader Taras Topolia (centre), keyboardist Serhii Vusyk (left), and guitarist Dmytro Zholud (right) pose on the frontlines in Kyiv
A Ukrainian soldier is seen guarding a defensive position to the north of Kyiv, as Russian forces are pushed back
Serhii Volosovets, a commander in the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, fires a pistol during a training camp for volunteers in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv
Ukrainian troops are pictured carrying British/Swedish NLAW anti-tank weapons on the frontlines near Kyiv
Pictured: The site of a rocket explosion where a shopping mall used to be on March 23, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The rocket hit the shopping mall on March 20, 2022
Refugees from conflict zones in the east of the Country wait in front of the Dnipro station to be able to access the train in order to leave for the west in Dnipro, Ukraine on March 24, 2022
Zelensky also addressed a Nato summit via video-link on Thursday and pleaded for '1% of all your planes, 1% of all your tanks'.
Boris Johnson said Britain wanted to help, but conceded there were 'logistical problems' involved and called on Ukraine's more eastern allies to provide armoured vehicles to the country.
France's Emmanuel Macron took issue with Mr Johnson's suggestion, ruling out supplying Ukraine with tanks and planes over fears such an action would drag NATO into conflict with Russia. The issue was a 'red line', the French president said.
Putin last month ordered Russia's nuclear forces to be put on high alert, and threatened NATO allies with 'consequences greater than any you have faced in history' should they directly intervene in Ukraine.
Zelensky has made a number of speeches to parliaments around the world since Russia invaded his country. Earlier this week he told Italian MPs to freeze all assets belonging to the Russian elite and to declare a full trade embargo, starting with oil.
Earlier this month he confronted US President Joe Biden during an address to Congress and told him to become the 'leader of the free world'.
He also demanded the US impose more sanctions on Russia to stop the 'war machine', asked for fighter jets and shared devastating footage of civilians being maimed in Kyiv as he called on lawmakers to 'do more' to protect his country.
Before that, he channelled Winston Churchill's wartime defiance as he delivered a historic address to the House of Commons from his war-ravaged country, vowing 'we will not give up'.
Zelensky has accepted an invitation to address the Oireachtas on April 6, where he will speak directly to Irish lawmakers.
On the ground in Ukraine today, Russia shelled a humanitarian aid centre in the city of Kharkiv, leaving at least four civilians dead, though continued to suffer battlefield defeats elsewhere as Ukrainian forces pushed Putin's men back from Kyiv.
Kharkiv, which has been bombarded by Russian forces since the early days of the war, came under fresh attack overnight an early Friday - leaving four dead and three wounded after an aid centre was struck in the early hours of Friday. 'There is no military facility nearby,' authorities said, indicating the attack amounts to a war crime.
But there was success elsewhere for Ukrainian forces which succeeded in recapturing the village of Lukyanivka, 35 miles to the east of central Kyiv, as troops were filmed occupying the settlement amid the ruins of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. Lukashi, another nearby town, was also reported to be under Ukrainian control.
Meanwhile heavy fighting was underway in Borodyanka, around 30 miles from downtown Kyiv to the west, as Ukraine's forces try to wrest control of the city away from Russia. If successful, it leaves Russian troops at Bucha and Irpin - thought to number in the thousands - at risk of being surrounded with the potential for mass surrender.
Kherson, in the south west, also appears to have been attacked by Ukrainian forces who thwarted a Russian assault on Mykolaiv. Kherson airport, where Russia has repeatedly tried to station its aircraft and helicopters, appeared to be hit by Ukrainian artillery overnight.
Malynivka, a small town around 65 miles north of Mariupol, was also reportedly recaptured by Ukrainian forces in an effort to thwart a Russian pincer movement aiming to surround its armies in the Donbass. Heavy fighting was also underway in Izyum, 100 miles to the north, to halt the other arm of the pincer.
But the situation in Mariupol itself appeared grim, with the BBC reporting that councillors have now been evacuated and are running the city from outside after Russian forces pushed into the centre. Chechen special forces, which uploaded footage of fighting in the city on Thursday, claimed to have captured city hall.
-seen footage reveals the inside of Mariupol theatre after it was bombed by Russian forces on March 16, as wounded people file out of the near-totally destroyed building
The footage emerged as city councillors said 300 people are likely to have died in the attack, after they collected accounts from survivors of the disaster
Footage taken inside the Mariupol theatre by survivors shortly after the blast shows how the building was near-totally destroyed by a Russian airstrike
Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for more than a month - starved of food, water, and reinforcements in an effort to soften up defences, before troops moved into the city. Chechen special forces now claim to have caputred the city hall, amid fierce fighting close to the centre
A Russian armoured vehicle with a 'Z' invasion symbol painted on the front is seen driving into Mariupol, as large parts of the city fall under the control of Putin's forces
Russian forces are pictured rolling into Mariupol as civilians file out, after the city was largely destroyed by bombardment
Russian armoured vehicles unload troops on the outskirts of Mariupol as the city falls further into Moscow's hands
The horror inflicted on civilians sheltering inside a Mariupol theatre that was bombed by Russian jets last week has been laid bare as the first footage from inside the destroyed building emerged today.
Never-before-seen video shows injured civilians covered with dust filing out of the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre after it was near-totally destroyed in Russian bombs aimed at building on March 16 despite a large inscription saying 'children' being clearly visible on the pavement outside.
It came as city councillors said accounts they had been given from survivors of the bombing suggested that at least 300 people had died in the attack. If confirmed, it would mark the single largest losses of innocent life during the month-long war to date.
'From eyewitnesses, information is emerging that about 300 people died in the Drama Theatre of Mariupol following strikes by a Russian aircraft,' Mariupol city hall wrote on Telegram.
'I do not want to believe in this horror. Until the last moment I want to believe that everyone managed to escape. But the words of those who were inside the building at the time of this terrorist act say the opposite,' officials said.
Petr Andryuschenko, advisor to deputy mayor of Mariupol, said in a separate interview with the BBC that 600 people had been sheltering in the theatre at the time it was struck and that the 300 who are now presumed dead were in a bomb shelter underneath it which got buried in the rubble.
The exact death toll is still uncertain because rescuers have not yet been able to get into the shelter because Russia continues shelling the area. However, it is presumed that all those inside have now died.
Mariupol city hall said Friday the theatre was destroyed in a 'cynical' attack and claimed that Russia knew civilians were taking refuge in the building.
Zelensky says nearly 100,000 people are trapped without food, water or power in the besieged city and enduring fierce shelling by Russian forces.
The leader of Russia's southern republic of Chechnya said Thursday that forces from his region had taken control of Mariupol city hall and hoisted the Russian flag.
Mariupol has been the scene of some of the worst devastation of the war, which has seen Russia relentlessly besiege and pummel Ukraine's cities.
The misery inside them is such that nearly anyone who can is trying to leave and those left behind face desperate food shortages in a country once known as the breadbasket for the world.
In the shelled city of Kharkiv, mostly elderly women came to collect food and other urgent supplies. In the capital of Kyiv, ashes of the dead are piling up at the main crematorium because so many relatives have left, leaving urns unclaimed.
For civilians unable to join the flood of refugees from Ukraine, the days of plenty in the country are becoming just a fading memory, as the war grinds into a second month.
With Ukrainian soldiers battling Russia's invasion force to a near stalemate in many places and the president urging people to remain steadfast, the U.S. and the European Union announced a move to further squeeze Russia: a new partnership to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian energy and slowly squeeze off the billions of dollars the Kremlin gets from sales of fossil fuels.