Biden likens Ukraine’s battle against Russia to Allies fighting Nazi Germany | DW News

Biden likens Ukraine’s battle against Russia to Allies fighting Nazi Germany | DW News

US President Biden today called on his fellow Americans to defend democracy from threats at home and abroad and he did that with one eye to what happened 80 years ago this week Biden spoke at point to hook in France where American soldiers fought a pivotal battle during the D-Day invasion 80 years ago Biden’s speech follows a pledge of support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and it comes during a divisive election race with his Republican Ral former US president Donald Trump here’s more of what the US president said today in France As We Gather here today it’s not just to honor those who showed such remarkable bravery on that day June 6 1944 it’s to listen to The Echoes of their voices to hear them because they are summoning us and they summoning us now they ask us what will we do they’re not asking us to scale these Cliffs but they’re asking us to stay true to what America stands for they’re not asking us to give or risk our lives but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves they’re not asking us to do their job they’re asking us to do our job to protect freedom in our time to defend democracy to stand up aggression abroad and at home to be part of something something bigger than ourselves that was the US president there I’m joined Now by my colleague William blue Croft he was listening and analyzing the words of the US president we it’s good to have you here it was clear who he was talking about but to whom was the US president speaking I think he had two key audiences Americans at home his European allies on this side of the Atlantic trying to remind Americans in an election year obviously to vote for him but from his perspective to defend democracy because of course Joe Biden has basically pitched himself as the defender against the likes of Donald Trump uh for the way of the America’s American way of life uh that’s what he was talking about in his speech he didn’t outline very specifically what exactly he was talking about these big themes of democracy Freedom liberal values um but then of course a skittish European public and European allies European counterparts um trying to make the case that America’s not going anywhere that just as Americans stormed the beaches to free Europe years ago they will stand up in in an equivalent albeit different way today if there had not been a Donald Trump presidency do you think this speech would have even been made today I mean Donald Trump and the his legacy and what could possibly still come that was the driving force behind all of this wasn’t it sure but it wasn’t the first time a US president came to such a momentous and historic location like like the D-Day Landings in northern France to make a grandiose speech about the importance of American democracy of American power in the world almost every US president has done it D-Day and the World War II story more broadly speaking is such an easy story as difficult as the war was but it’s such an easy black and white good versus evil story to drape upon more complicated present political issues that we have today the problem is yes that is historically true right it really was good versus evil and the Free World fighting against tyranny but that was a if not singular a rare Moment In global history you can’t apply a rare moment to everything all the time well I was going to ask you these comparisons that are implied that were made in this speech are they are they correct or are we conflating conflicts here of course let’s not forget even back then these the so-called free world also oversaw colonies around the world they themselves picked and chose just as we’re picking and choosing today who got to be free and who didn’t get to be free and who got to enjoy these values and who didn’t so there were discrepancies and double standards there then and there are today and it’s very very dangerous there of course always parallels of course there are parallels what the the the the fullscale war in Ukraine that Russia has launched is the largest land battle in Europe since World War II there’s no disputing that but Russia is not Nazi Germany and Vladimir Putin is not Adolf Hitler so we H these parallels can only go so far and it’s a it’s a very difficult argument to for Joe Biden to be making to to stand for something bigger than just yourself to make a sacrifice especially given America’s flavor of liberal democracy which is about yourself it’s about the individual it’s about be doing what’s best for you he he was speaking also to America’s allies particularly the Allies here in Europe because there is this fear that the the the alliances that have made up our world order for the past 70 years that they could soon fall away and and that’s that’s that’s the point isn’t it that here in Europe leaders w want the status quo to remain yeah well it’s very difficult you have on one hand criticism of American power uh an interest not just from extreme sides of wanting to see America recede or wanting to see some kind of rebalance obviously we heard from Emanuel Macon first and foremost but also the Titan Venda here in Germany about Europe being more of an equal security partner with the United States but on the other hand what does that really mean and you could be the most critical person of American power and the impact and the consequence that us Powers had in the world but if that just went away there would be a massive vacuum right that that that could more chaos so it’s not just well let’s get rid of the last 80 years let’s get rid of the Euro Atlantic Alliance there needs to be a talk of okay what replaces that what comes next otherwise you’re looking at a power vacuum which could make things even more chaotic than they are today William bloft as always William it’s good to see we appreciate your analysis thank you well after meeting with Joe Biden earlier today Ukraine’s president President Vladimir zinski is now holding talks with the French President Emanuel macron zalinski is at the D-Day commemorations to shore up support for Ukraine’s war against Russia France has now agreed to supply Mirage fighter jets and train Ukrainian Pilots as part of a new military aid package earlier in the day zinsky gave an address to the French Parliament where he called for more efforts to achieve what he called a fair peace all right I want to pull in now Frank Leed he is a senior lecturer in strategic studies at forsmith University he’s a former UK Military Intelligence officer he joins us tonight from Oxford Frank it’s good to see you again we understand that it could be months until Ukraine can actually use these Jets um on the battlefield in the skies Meanwhile we’re getting daily reports of Russia ramping up its attacks I mean will these fighter jets will they be what too little too late I mean is the timing here off well good evening Brent yes they’re not going to be well we’re not going to be see seeing them in useful quantities and they’ll probably get around 25 from France eventually well into next year uh even then I would question whether the integration of this system The Mirage 2000 system which is a 1990s design this particular variant they’re getting uh I’d question whether that would be complete even then we we’re looking I think out a year but it will provide a capability will it provide extra capability probably not what it will provide is capacity which is to say more Jets the problem is though it is an old jet there are concerns about age as with any military aircraft the important element is what’s in them not what the airframe does so that’s the avionics it’s not clear yet what they will be supplied with but yes it’s better than nothing if I were ukrainians however I’d be looking at uh Swedish aircraft much more suitable much more up toate swedes are Keen to supply them eventually rather than just multiplying the number of airframes and Logistics chains well when when you say um Sometime Late next year I mean it sounds like you’re expecting this war to to last a lot longer than has has been predicted I mean is is that what we’re seeing with these promises of Mirage fighter jets well I think I think Brent the this is I me this is positive it’s mainly a political gesture I think but what we’re seeing now and we haven’t seen for the last two years is a sense of that of of sustainment for the Ukrainian military in other words looking ahead more than next month or the next couple of months what we need to be seeing is looking at two five 10 years to provide Ukraine not only with the ability to at least defend themselves now but also to deter future aggression alongside its future NATO allies so this is a long-term commitment and I think it’s right that it is whether the war will last that long look I don’t have my crystal ball I don’t know nor do you or anybody else that’s correct um let’s look at the the immediate future here Ukraine has been given a green light by its allies to strike targets inside Russia with Western supplied weapons does Ukraine need um these jets these Mirage fighter jets to do exactly that this particular variant is is multi-roll it in theory it can strike or it’s designed to strike Behind Enemy Lines like like most aircraft the very similar f-16’s another one I’d be doubtful frankly whether the avionics the electronics The Radars tarting systems would be able to penetrate the very formidable Russian groundbased air defense system so I would suspect that aircraft of this age and capability would be used within the country to supplement air defenses against missile cruise missile attack and drone attack and of course against Russian aircraft should should they be a threat themselves uh I I’d be doubtful about putting them into Russian airspace or indeed the f-16s frankly and I would doubt whether that’s going to be either airf frame’s primary role Russia’s President Putin has warned that Russia could provide long range weapons to some of its allies to some countries to strike Western Targets in response to Nato allowing Ukraine to use West W weapons to attack Russian territory I mean is that a credible threat and what countries is Putin talking about do you think he’s talking about Syria Lebanon Iran conceivably some Caribbean countries or to provide a capability to them it is very credible I think I think look Putin’s made threats now for the last two years and the issue here is his credibility and at some point his bluff is is going to be called and this threat of proxy action is credible it’s quite dangerous and of course it’s another ratchet up on the escalatory ladder that we’ve been seeing all the way really since the start of the war so yes it is credible and very dangerous I suspect Frank lewi as always Frank we appreciate your time and your analysis tonight thank you as Europe and the United States paid homage to those who defeated tyranny 80 years ago Ukrainian president vadir zilinsky pleaded with fellow leaders to help his country do the same now against Russia’s illegal aggression comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions with Adolf Hitler’s very important that in this Unity United States America All American people stay with Ukraine like it was during World War II President Biden apologized for the long delay in the last us Aid package and announced a new one worth $225 million but all eyes were on the host French president emanu mcon who for months has been considering whether to dispatch French troops to train ukrainians inside Ukraine it was speculated he would reveal a decision now but he didn’t announcing instead an aid package including the delivery of Mirage fighter jets and the training of Pilots plus an entire Brigade of Ukrainian soldiers but this will take place of in France he said although it’s a legitimate request to do it inside Ukraine he added also rejected moscow’s claim that trainers inside Ukraine would represent direct French and therefore NATO participation in the war an escalation it’s Putin who has escalated the war mcon said Putin but that’s nonetheless a convenient Kremlin narrative NATO Chief Yen stoltenberg and other Allied governments work constantly to rebuff NATO has uh no plans to deploy uh forces to uh to Ukraine fin President Alexander Stu says he won’t be sending troops either and doesn’t support the idea of acting alone I think it’s very important that when we are part of the alliance we work as an alliance and not in separate blocks more Allied scrutiny of macron’s actions may be on the way with paris’s announcement it would be sending Mirage fighter jets as the rest of NATO has agreed to focus on the delivery of f-16s Ukrainian president zalinski just said he’s grateful for more support well well our correspondent Terry Schultz she filed that report Terry joins me now from Brussels good evening to you Terry um that was an excellent report um the comparison of Adolf Hitler with Vladimir Putin that is a main takeaway from this week’s D-Day commemorations and it is not without controversy is this a comparison that is shared among all allies of Ukraine well it’s very hard to say that anything is shared among all allies uh because of course you have countries like Hungary which says it does not support Ukraine and that that any help for for keev is prolonging the war that anyone who sends assistance to Ukraine is a war Monger that said it was very helpful for president zalinski that so many countries that so many world leaders in their speeches did make this comparison that you saw all the crosses you know in those very touching scenes that showed that that fighters from all over the world were willing to come the last time that tyranny threatened to overtake the European continent and president zalinski and and other Frontline states have long wanted uh you know all of the Allies to feel that this is their fight that Ukraine’s fight must be shared by all of these other countries in Europe so I think that this touched a lot of hearts and especially for example these scenes that we saw when the World War II veterans told president zalinski that he’s a hero because he’s now fighting for Europe and of course president zilinsky turned it back on on the veterans themselves yeah that was it was a moving moment from yesterday that’s for sure um what about the French Mirage fighter jets for Ukraine considering that these planes will not be in use until sometime next year is this more of a political gesture and less of a move to help Ukraine’s military well I think it can be both Brent and I I’m certain that president zalinski is thankful for any assistance he’s getting remember when he used to say that he wanted fighter jets and they told him he was never getting them so now he is one of the problems inside NATO though and this is a bit complicated is that allies most allies have decided that they should really focus on f-16s that you should train Pilots to to fly one system and then work on getting uh supplies for those systems work on getting you know uh components that will be needed for repairs and basically for example Sweden which was willing to provide its own grip in Jets was told to stand down let’s all focus on f-16s and then I can tell you that this came as a surprise to allies that French president mcon announced he’s sending French Mirage Jets this was done not in consultation with other allies from what I’m being told and while of course no one’s going to disparage contributions to Ukraine this makes it a little complicated for for the other allies and when you mention a political gesture France has come under a lot of criticism for the very low level of Aid to Ukraine in comparison to GDP it’s like number 23 or something you’ve got countries like even Belgium ahead of it um not to mention the Baltic states which are pledging you know above 1% of their own GDP so I would say this could be both a political gesture and an attempt to help Ukraine now what about um training Ukrainian Pilots to fly these planes why does Ukraine want the trainers to be inside Ukraine well it’s not just Trainers for the Jets it’s it’s all kinds of training from what I understand from Ukraine’s request and something very interesting that came out of an interview uh president mcon gave last night to French television he said that uh president zalinski had renewed this request to get trainers inside Ukraine just 48 hours ago and that therefore he expects there to be more consideration of it now what Ukraine is saying is that then it wouldn’t have to take its its soldiers so far from the front line that you maybe go to Western Ukraine where where it’s safer you do the training where you’re not putting uh the French or other forces in in so much danger and then they can go right back to the front line more quickly but I’ve talked to a lot of uh a lot of other countries and they say look the risk is just not worth it for us you can hop them across the border quickly as well and then you don’t run the risk of you know giving the Kremlin this very convenient uh narrative that NATO is taking part directly in the fight now of course uh Secretary General stoltenberg will say if a country sends its trainers inside Ukraine that’s bilateral to Ukraine it’s not a NATO fight but of course that’s not what the Kremlin says Terry what do you make of the kremlin’s reaction Vladimir Putin reportedly thinks that this proves that Emanuel macron really wants French or NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine but Brent this is what he would say no matter what I mean you and I have talked about this many times he calls everything in escalation the problem is that in this case if you finally do openly have French or soldiers from other countries inside Ukraine announcing that they go inside Ukraine it makes a lot it a lot easier for for Vladimir Putin to say now NATO is taking part and and before that when troops are training ukrainians outside Ukraine and and giving assistance even taking off the restrictions for the use of those weapons uh it’s a lot easier for NATO to say hey we’re not on the ground there this does complicate things for NATO DW’s Terry Schultz tonight in Brussels Terry is always thank you have a good weekend

US President Joe Biden gave a second D-Day speech in which he compared Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Nazi Germany fighting the Allied powers during Word War II. The speech commemorated the D-Day landings in Normandy France, and was given just steps away from the 9,388 buried US service members who participated in the landings. President Biden alluded to the WWII threat of Nazism and fascism taking over Europe numerous times throughout his speech, drawing parallels with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Biden’s two D-Day speeches came as the US has agreed to send a further $225 million (€209 million) of military aid to Ukraine, officials said late on Thursday, in a package which will include munitions which Kyiv could use to hit targets inside Russia itself.
The officials told the Associated Press news agency that the support package includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rounds as well as HAWK air defense ammunition, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Javelin anti-armor systems, 155mm Howitzers, armored vehicles, trailers, patrol boats, demolition materials and a wide range of other spare parts and equipment.
Washington recently lifted restrictions on Ukraine using US weapons to strike targets on Russian territory in the wake of continuing Russian attacks on the city of Kharkiv.Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris will provide Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft.

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