Zelensky urges Germany to tear down the new ‘Wall’ in Europe that ‘is growing bigger with every Russian bomb’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky invoked the fall of the Berlin Wall in an emotional address before the German parliament on Thursday as his troops continued to battle the Russian offensive.

He called on Germany to destroy a new "wall" that Russia was building in Europe. "It's not a Berlin Wall, it is a wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Mr Zelensky told German lawmakers from an undisclosed location in capital Kyiv.

He was welcomed by the members of the lower house of the German parliament with a standing ovation.

Echoing former US president Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Mikhail Gorbachev, he told the lawmakers: "That's what I say to you dear Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz: destroy this wall".

"Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve," he added.

Mr Zelensky also criticised the German government for supporting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which aimed to double the flow of natural gas from Russia.

"We turned to you. We told you that Nord Stream was a kind of preparation for the war. And the answer we got was purely economic -- it is economy, economy, economy but that was the mortar for the new wall," Mr Zelensky said.

While Germany was initially hesitant, it halted the Baltic Sea gas pipeline project after Russia formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. It joined allies in imposing sanctions against Moscow and extended arms to aid Ukraine.

"The Russian attack marks a turning point," the chancellor tweeted two days after Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine.

“It is our duty to do our best to help Ukraine defend against the invading army of Putin. That's why we're supplying 1000 anti-tank weapons and 500 stinger missiles to our friends in Ukraine," he wrote, marking a significant shift in Germany's restrictive arms export policy.

However, Berlin and Rome are trying to block more Russian sanctions to protect their economies, despite being under pressure from the east European Union (EU) countries.

"It’s becoming clearer by the day that three sides are forming: Poland and the Baltic states, known as the Sanctionistas that want more and stronger sanctions; Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria — the Contras — that prioritise their own economic interests; and the rest," an EU diplomat told The Times.

On Friday, the Russian troops shelled an aircraft repair plant in the western city of Lviv, located 43 miles from the Polish border. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said several missiles struck the aircraft maintenance facility, destroying buildings but there were no casualties reported.

Explosions were also heard in the northern part of the capital Kyiv. The extent of the damage or casualties, if any, was not known immediately.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here.

To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.