President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered his first in-person address to German lawmakers in the Bundestag on June 11, expressing Ukraine's gratitude for Germany's support in resisting Russia's invasion.
His address comes as more than 2,000 representatives from 60 countries are in Berlin for the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Germany is the second-largest supporter of Ukraine after the U.S. and the biggest supporter in Europe.
In 2024 alone, Germany provided approximately 7.1 billion euro for military assistance to Ukraine. Over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have received military training in Germany.
Zelensky told German lawmakers that Russia must pay for the damage inflicted on his country. "Those who started the war have to be held responsible," he said. "They have to be brought to justice for every war crime committed," adding that the time for compromises is over.
"As soon as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin started to burn our cities … as soon as he started to pursue murder instead of agreements and contracts, the time for compromise ended," Zelensky noted, according to Deutsche Welle.
"Putin will lose this war," the Ukrainian president stressed. "We will not allow Russia to continue to march through Europe with its contempt for life. (...) We will not pass on this war to the next generation. We will end it. We will end it in the interest of Ukraine and the interest of Europe as a whole."
Zelensky also referenced Germany's history in his address, recalling the decades the country was divided by the Berlin Wall: "You can understand us in Ukraine, you can understand why we are fighting so hard against Russia's attempts to divide Ukraine, why we are doing everything we can to make sure there is not a new wall in our country."
"Russia is standing against all of us alone, so we all have to force Russia to change, and it is possible, because there is no wall that cannot be brought down."
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