Moscow accused Europe of wanting to wipe out Russia on Thursday, likening it to the Nazis, just as German European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in kyiv for a summit.
The Russian authorities must also celebrate with great fanfare on Thursday the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad, while the Kremlin has tried for a year to present its assault on Ukraine as the equivalent of the fight of the USSR against Nazism.
Mrs von der Leyen for her part assured Ukraine of the full support of the EU, arriving in kyiv on Thursday accompanied by her commissioners, on the eve of the EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for Friday in the Ukrainian capital in the presence also of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
“Good to be back in Kyiv, my fourth time since the Russian invasion and this time with my team of stewards,” she wrote on Twitter.
“We are here together to show that the EU stands firmly with Ukraine,” she added.
Ms von der Leyen is accompanied by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and fourteen other members of the College of European Commissioners who will meet their colleagues from the Ukrainian government.
“Strong symbol”
The head of the Commission should also meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Commission described this visit and the summit as a “strong symbol” of European commitment to support Ukraine “in the face of unjustified aggression” from Russia.
Kyiv is keen to speed up the process of joining the EU, but this path promises to be long, because of the reforms that are difficult to carry out, especially in the midst of war.
The head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov took the opportunity of an interview granted to Russian television to launch into a diatribe, accusing the Europeans of wanting to put an end to “the Russian question”, pointing the finger at Mrs von der Leyen.
She “declared that the result of the war must be the defeat of Russia (…) such that it does not recover for decades”, lambasted the Russian leader in a television interview.
“Isn’t this racism, Nazism and an attempt to resolve the Russian question? he said, comparing the situation to “the final solution of the Jewish question,” the Nazi-orchestrated Holocaust.
According to him, the West does not use “gas chambers” but they do everything “so that Russia ceases to exist as a power”.
President Vladimir Putin first accused Ukraine of Nazism and the West of complicity in justifying his invasion nearly a year ago.
Moscow says it wants to “denazify” its neighbor, registering its offensive in the legacy of the Soviet victory over the Nazis during the Second World War.
Mr. Putin must also take the lead on Thursday in ceremonies with great fanfare marking the 80e anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad.
In addition, Lavrov again called Western military support for Ukraine “escalating”, especially in the event of the delivery of longer-range armaments.
Ukraine demands high-precision missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers to destroy Russian supply lines and overcome its shortfall in manpower and armaments.
So far, the West has refused, for fear of provoking a new Russian escalation. US President Joe Biden, however, said on Tuesday that he would discuss it with Volodymyr Zelensky.
After long procrastination, Europeans and Americans gave the green light this month to deliveries of modern heavy tanks, even if their number remains below what kyiv claims.
Preparation for the offensive
Many observers believe that both kyiv and Moscow are preparing new offensives at the end of winter and in the spring.
“We do not underestimate our enemy. We see that he is preparing very seriously for the offensive,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Wednesday evening.
“They will try to try something around February 24”, the anniversary of the invasion, he continued.
After a series of humiliating setbacks in the fall, Russia mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have intensified their assaults on the eastern front, notably on Bakhmout, a city that Moscow has been trying to conquer since the summer, inflicting considerable destruction on it.
“If we had electricity, everything would be easier, we could heat ourselves, cook,” 75-year-old Natalia Shevchenko told AFP.
“The worst thing is that there is no network. I can’t call my family,” she continues.
Nevertheless, Natalia remains. Despite the almost permanent bombardments and the risk of encirclement by the Russian forces which force her to live “like a mole”, underground in her cellar.
“How could I leave? said the old woman, worrying about the money it would cost her.