CARMEN VALERO Berlin
Berlin
Updated Saturday, February 17, 2024-12:10
Ukraine-Russia War Ukraine withdraws from the ruins of Avdivka due to lack of ammunition
Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the city of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region, "due to a shortage of weapons," according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The justification for the withdrawal after months of hellish battle points directly to the NATO allies and their slowness or
reluctance to provide the weapons
that Kiev insistently requests to stop Russia.
In his speech at the
Munich Security Conference
, Zelensky stressed that Ukraine's main weapon is its army and therefore justified the withdrawal from the Avdiivka bastion because "the life of the Ukrainian people is an absolute priority," he said, adding that " "The actions of our troops on the front are only limited by the West's lack of ammunition and long-range missiles, allowing Russia to adapt to the situation on the battlefield."
"Ukraine has shown that it can force Russia to withdraw and that it is capable of restoring the rules. We can get our land back and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can lose, this has already happened more than once on the battlefield." , he claimed. Unfortunately, Zelensky added, "keeping Ukraine in a (state of) artificial weapons deficit, especially in terms of artillery and long-range capabilities."
Zelensky stressed that the longer the war in Ukraine lasts, the more changes Russia will cause in the world. "Perhaps people will have to live in a world where local wars will not be local. Whatever happens, the start of war risks becoming a global catastrophe," he warned.
The Ukrainian president said that
the "self-weakening" of democracy
by not acting quickly enough against a Russia that challenges the rules-based world order "undermines our joint result" in fighting this threat.
Russia, Zelensky stated, only has a single specific military advantage at the moment, which is the total devaluation of human life" on the battlefield and of its opponents. "After the assassination of Navalny it is absurd to perceive Putin as the supposed legitimate head of state of Russia," he stressed.
For the Ukrainian president, the Russian president only has two options: "be in a cell in The Hague or be murdered by one of his accomplices who are now killing for him."
"We all have to do everything possible to defeat the aggressor. Please remember, everyone, dictators do not go on vacation. Hatred knows no pauses, artillery is not silenced by procedural issues. Combatants need enough strength and We should not be afraid of Putin's defeat, it is a threat to all free nations," he stressed.
"If we don't defeat him now, it won't matter who will be the president of Russia, because any new Russian dictator will remember how to retain power by annexing territory, murdering people and
destroying the world order
," he said.