US President Joe Biden made a forceful plea for the defence of democracy on Thursday at a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944.
"We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago - they never fade," Biden said at a ceremony at the American Cemetery in the northern French region of Normandy, as D-Day veterans, some over 100 years old, looked on.
"Aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control, to change borders by force — these are perennial. The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is unending."
"Here in Europe, we see one stark example," Biden said, drawing a comparison between World War II and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He said Ukraine was "invaded by a tyrant" and that the United States and NATO will continue to stand by its side.
"We will not walk away, because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and it will not end there. Their neighbours will be threatened and Europe will also."
