Francisco Cordeiro Araújo, a specialist in international law, says that there is “some Ukrainian pride in this date which is also tragic, because it changed the lives of so many millions of Ukrainians”. The dominant view, which mirrors President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech, is that Putin did not get what he wanted.
Precisely four years ago, Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, beginning the . But four years later, Ukraine resists.
Francisco Cordeiro Araújo, a specialist in international law, says that there is “some Ukrainian pride in this date which is also tragic, because it changed the lives of so many millions of Ukrainians”. The dominant view, which mirrors , is that Putin didn’t get what he wanted.
“First of all, Putin was unable to take over Ukraine in three days. Then, he said that he didn’t want NATO to get closer, but two countries very close to Russia joined the Atlantic Alliance. Putin also said that he defended the rights of minorities and that he was preventing a genocide, but he changed the argument to say that there were majorities and that, through a referendum, they wanted to be Russian. He wanted Ukraine to give in completely to the cold, but it continues to resist”, says Francisco Cordeiro Araújo.
For the expert in international law, all of the Kremlin’s expansionist objectives, which “seemed easy to achieve”, became for Putin “a nightmare, which undermines the economy and removes international credibility”.
“Putin did not break the Ukrainian people”
Four years later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky guaranteed this Tuesday that Russian objectives had not been achieved.
“Putin did not achieve his goals. He did not break the Ukrainian people. He did not win this war”, says Zelensky, in a video message, recorded in the ‘bunker’ of the Ukrainian presidential office. “We preserved Ukraine and we will do everything to achieve peace and justice. We want peace, a strong, dignified and lasting peace“, adds the head of state.
The to mark the fourth anniversary of the war, while the European Parliament organizes an extraordinary plenary session in Brussels.
António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, who had already gone to Ukraine last year on February 24, will participate in the official memorial ceremony in Kiev and visit an energy infrastructure bombed by Russia, before meeting Zelensky.
