(Paris) In front of French parliamentarians who gave him several standing ovations, the Ukrainian president on Wednesday asked for help to end the “war against freedom, equality and fraternity” in his country, and urged the French companies to leave Russia.
Posted at 12:06 p.m.
Updated at 1:04 p.m.
“French companies must leave the Russian market. Renault, Auchan, Leroy Merlin and others, they must stop being the sponsors of Russia’s war machine”, he declared Volodymyr Zelensky who addressed by videoconference to the deputies and senators gathered exceptionally for the occasion.
They “must stop funding the murder of children and women, rape,” he insisted. “Everyone must remember that values are worth more than profits”.
He did not quote the oil group TotalEnergies, which announced on Tuesday that it would renounce all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products by the end of the year at the latest, but not gas.
“We expect from France, from your leadership […]the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, also affirmed the Ukrainian president, saying on several occasions “grateful” towards the efforts of France to put an end to the conflict and in particular to President Emmanuel Macron who demonstrates “true leadership”.
He also recalled his desire to join the European Union and underlined that “during the French presidency of the European Union a mature decision will be taken”, “a historic decision at a historic moment, as has always been the case in the history of the French people.
“You know who is guilty”, he launched to the parliamentarians in a speech of about fifteen minutes, punctuated by a minute of silence at his request “in memory” of the victims for a month of the Russian invasion.
Several images of cities in Ukraine “reminiscent of the ruins of Verdun” during the First World War, he noted, in another reference to French history.
To “those who have doubts, I can tell you that your people are sure” of the fight to be waged, he said, facing several presidential candidates who had taken pro-Russia positions such as Marine Le Pen, Jean -Luc Mélenchon and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, present at the Palais Bourbon as deputies.
If the latter felt that he had “unfortunately not seen a hand extended towards peace” from Mr Zelensky, the other two made no statement to the press.
Before Mr. Zelensky’s intervention, the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher (LR) had underlined, in a hemicycle where the Ukrainian flag had been installed, that the moment was “solemn” because “for the first time in our parliamentary history, we welcome the president of a country at war”, while “the unacceptable is happening”.
His counterpart in the Assembly Richard Ferrand (LREM) recalled that France calls on “Russia to comply with international humanitarian law” and that “we will continue to ensure that everything is done to bring you assistance”. “We remain by your side,” he assured to applause.
The parliamentarians then hailed in unison a “strong and poignant speech” as well as his reference to the Republican motto, saying their “admiration for this resistant president”.
“Without any note, he spoke of what was happening in practice, of the suffering of human beings”, retained PS Senator Jean-Pierre Sueur.
“Beyond this president who is a heroic president, who is also a president who knows how to use communication codes, we have a real brotherhood in arms because we share the same values”, declared Bruno Retailleau, boss LR deputies.
LR deputy Eric Ciotti, adviser to candidate Valérie Pécresse, however expressed his reservations about the departure of French companies from Russia: “Each company must measure what the consequence of this withdrawal is and we must also think about the interest of Europe and in the interest of the French people”.
The speech was also broadcast to the Council of Paris, chaired by the PS candidate at the Élysée Anne Hidalgo.