“Right now it’s a destroyed country, with every passing minute more lives are being destroyed. An alternative to destruction is needed,” said Catarina Martins.

The BE coordinator, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the initiative which this afternoon brought together thousands of Ukrainians in front of the Porto Coliseum, said that it was necessary to “defend Ukraine”, but also “have an alternative to destruction”.

“Russia has invaded Ukraine. Nothing justifies this act, it is criminal. We must listen to the parties and we must, by supporting Ukraine to defend itself, also open diplomatic channels which are requested by Ukraine itself,” he said. , referring to the “peace conference” called for by Ukrainian President Zelensky.

Asked about the European Union’s role, Catarina Martins said she “could go further”, arguing that the EU was “hostage to its own energy companies and various interests”.

On the day that marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, Catarina Martins took to the social network Twitter to mark “a year of war, a year of barbarism”.

“The urgency is to stop Russia, to guarantee the right of the Ukrainian people to their country, to save lives, to build peace,” he said.

For the leader of the BE, it is not a question of a “rotten peace” nor “a peace of submission”, but rather “a solution of peace which guarantees the peace and security of the people”.

The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries -, according to the latest data from the UN, which ranks this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

Currently, at least 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and shelter.

The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community as a whole, which reacted by sending arms to Ukraine and forcing Russia to leave political and economic sanctions.