the war in Ukraine at the forefront of commemorations

From one war to another, the conflict in Ukraine comes to the forefront of D-Day commemorations. A moment which will not only be followed in France, but also elsewhere in the world, where the absence of Vladimir Putin can be noted.

In 2024, it is not possible to remember the sacrifice of the allies, the German occupier and a battered Europe, without drawing a parallel with the fight that kyiv has been waging for more than two years against the Russian aggressor, with Western aid. It’s very symbolic, but wars need symbolism. Today, Thursday June 6, there are side by side on Omaha Beach, the last 200 veterans of D-Day and the first of the Ukrainian resistance fighters, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Remember that in 1944, Ukraine was one of the Soviet republics that made up the USSR, and that nearly seven million Ukrainians lost their lives in the Red Army. With the invitation withdrawn from Russian representatives, the arrival of around twenty heads of state, and interviews already scheduled with the American president, this memorial sequence is transformed – at the request of Emmanuel Macron – into a diplomatic meeting major, just before the G7 and the peace summit in Switzerland.

Nothing to do with the commemorations of ten years ago: Crimea had just been annexed by Moscow, Vladimir Putin was arming the separatists of Donbass and yet the question had not arisen. The Russian president had been invited, still seen as a good-will interlocutor. François Hollande and Angela Merkel had forced him to meet with the Ukrainian president at the time, Petro Poroshenko. This resulted in nothing, but European leaders took the opportunity to launch the “Normandy format” mediation with the aim of stemming the conflict… with the result that we know. At the time, the Americans were outside the game. Today, all eyes are on them, while the prospect of a possible re-election of Donald Trump in November bodes ill for American commitment. .

President Volodymyr Zelensky will ask his partners to show unwavering support. Agreements will be signed at the Élysée on Friday: 650 million euros in loans and donations to support energy infrastructure in particular, largely destroyed by Russian strikes. Power cuts now affect all of Ukraine for 3, 5 or even 7 hours per day. On the military level, Paris could announce the formation of a coalition of countries ready to send instructors into the field responsible for training the Ukrainian brigades. This measure, like the recent authorization given to kyiv to use Western weapons on Russian territory, fuels Moscow’s anger. On Wednesday evening, Vladimir Putin even threatened the West to deliver equipment to third countries so that they could strike Western interests on their soil.