PRESS RELEASE : Creating a security guarantees mechanism for Ukraine will be an important step towards a new safe world – speech by Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak at the NATO Public Forum

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 29 June 2022.

Good afternoon, dear Christoph!

Dear forum participants!

I would like to start with the most painful.

Russia is increasingly convinced that it cannot defeat Ukraine on the battlefield. That is why bloody terror is increasingly being resorted to – the killings of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. In recent days, hundreds of missiles have been fired at dozens of Ukrainian cities. Every day, tens of thousands of munitions of various types hit our residential neighborhoods, kindergartens, hospitals and power plants. This is done deliberately.

The whole world now knows about the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, where the day before yesterday a Russian missile hit a regular shopping mall. There were about a thousand people inside. They were going shopping – women, children and the elderly.

What is this if not a classic terrorism of an incredible scale unprecedented since World War II?

Russia uses all terrorist methods: mass murder, torture and destruction. Energy and food crises, which are already beginning to negatively affect all people on the planet, were planned in advance. And all this is aimed to break the resistance of individual states and put pressure on the world community. Finally, the last argument is blackmail with nuclear weapons.

However, Russia sees any talks of concessions or even negotiations as a weakness. Unfortunately, blackmail, bloodshed and destruction are the backbone of Russia’s foreign policy.

They seek to destroy the Ukrainian state and erase from textbooks even mentions of the Ukrainian people. But we know for sure: if we give in today, they will go further tomorrow. After 2014, Ukrainians paid with their own blood to prove the axiom: Russia always violates the agreements it signs.

We are dealing with ideologies and practices reminiscent of the worst dictatorships of the previous century. History has taught us that the aggressor’s appetites grow with each concession.

That is why the security of not only Europe, but also the whole of humanity is threatened. And we believe that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, NATO will inevitably be drawn into the war. In addition, the unpunished aggressor gives grounds for other criminals to build their own plans of aggression.

More and more politicians around the world believe that Russia should not win the war it has started against Ukraine. This is good. But the thing is not everyone realizes that Ukraine must win this war. This is a guarantee that Russia will not “be able to repeat” the same thing with any other country.

To destroy the military and economic potential of the aggressor the maximum joint efforts of most states in several areas are required.

The first is the supply of effective weapons and munitions to Ukraine. In sufficient quantities and as soon as possible. To save as many people as possible who are being killed in our country every day. These are women, children, the elderly.

The second is the relentless increase in sanctions pressure. Without any hesitation and pauses. To reduce the aggressor’s resources as soon as possible. Last week, an international expert group led by me and Ambassador Michael McFaul released a fourth document with recommendations on sanctions policy. This time they concern the strengthening of financial sanctions.

The third is building a fair world order that will ensure compliance with universal norms and international law. I agree with your public arguments, Christoph, that the world is no longer divided into a communist East and a capitalist West. There are those who seek to abide by civilized rules, and there are aggressors who disregard any laws and break any rules.

The war in Ukraine accelerated all processes in the world. Life will never be the same again. We are witnessing a real crisis in the world security system. Therefore, we must build a new one together.

The North Atlantic Alliance is still unarguably the world’s most reliable security umbrella. And if the false ideas “not to provoke Russia” had not prevailed in 2008, today, most likely, there would be no war in Ukraine. So we are not satisfied with the illusion of an open door. Ukraine will not deviate from its path to full NATO membership. Both the Ukrainian army and the entire Ukrainian people prove with their courage every day that our membership will only strengthen the North Atlantic Alliance.

We are very pleased that NATO is already strengthening and moving towards the accession of countries, our partners and friends, such as Sweden and Finland.

But an important step towards a new safe world will be the creation of an effective security guarantees mechanism for Ukraine. To this end, we have set up an international advisory working group with former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

We are planning a set of measures, which provides primarily:

– strengthening defense capabilities and restoring Ukraine’s military-technical potential;

– maximum integration of Ukraine into international political and economic formats;

– prolonged and effective sanctions on Russia, which will prevent new attempts at aggression.

At the same time, we must jointly strengthen international law and reform international structures. Violators of fundamental principles must not only immediately lose their right to vote in the UN Security Council, but also be expelled from the United Nations and other international organizations. A complete isolation of criminals is needed.

I would like to express huge gratitude to the United States and our other partners, true friends of Ukraine, for your support. We are also grateful to the EU countries for their high level of trust and for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership.

We must defeat Russia together and punish the aggressor. And make the world safer for our nations and for future generations.

Thank you very much for this opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.

Glory to Ukraine and its defenders!

Thank you very much for your attention!