AMSTERDAM — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine unexpectedly traveled to the Netherlands on Wednesday and was scheduled to talk in The Hague on Thursday, in keeping with the Dutch wire service ANP.
Mr. Zelensky made the journey after spending a lot of Wednesday denying Russian claims his nation was answerable for an early morning drone assault on the Kremlin, saying that Ukraine was centered on the battle by itself soil. “We’re defending our villages and cities,” he mentioned, whereas visiting Nordic leaders in Helsinki, Finland.
In the Netherlands, Mr. Zelensky was additionally anticipated to fulfill with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and to go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir V. Putin and a Russian official for battle crimes in March.
The go to, which had not been reported till hours earlier than his arrival, was Mr. Zelensky’s first in-person go to to the Netherlands because the chief of Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky addressed the Dutch House of Representatives over video in March 2022, when he requested lawmakers to cease doing business with Russia and to ship extra munitions.
Mr. Zelensky has made few abroad journeys because the Russian invasion started, together with a tour of Britain, France and Belgium in February and a Washington journey in December 2022. Earlier on Wednesday, he met with Nordic leaders in Finland, and he was scheduled to take an official state go to to Germany on May 13, in keeping with Berlin’s police division.
Mr. Zelensky is predicted to make a speech titled “No Peace Without Justice for Ukraine” in The Hague on Thursday, in keeping with ANP.
The Ukrainian president has lengthy urged that Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and the officers who helped deliver battle to Ukraine be held accountable by worldwide regulation. He and different Ukrainian officers have proposed that European leaders arrange a particular tribunal for that objective, one that would work alongside the International Criminal Court however bypass its lengthy, onerous prosecution course of.
Mr. Zelensky referred to such a tribunal on Wednesday, as he rejected Russia’s accusations, which framed the explosions on the Kremlin as an assassination try on Mr. Putin.
“We didn’t attack Putin,” he mentioned. And as for the Russian chief’s destiny, he mentioned, “We leave it to the tribunal.”
Johanna Lemola contributed reporting from Helsinki, Finland.
Source: www.nytimes.com