Tag: 2022

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 March 2022.

The position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on negotiations with the Russian Federation remains tough: Ukraine will not make any concessions that could undermine our struggle for territorial integrity. This was stated by Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office Mykhailo Podoliak during a briefing in Lviv.

“President Zelenskyy will definitely not make any concessions that could in one way or another undermine our struggle, which is being waged in Ukraine today for its territorial integrity and freedom,” he said.

“Therefore, negotiations will be difficult. But they will continue,” Mykhailo Podoliak added.

According to the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office, the Head of State clearly understands all the nuances and circumstances of negotiations with the Russian Federation.

“We are not just present at the negotiations or just listening to them. We understand what they want to achieve, why they think so and what their real situation is,” said Mykhailo Podoliak.

He stressed that Ukraine’s position in the negotiation process is significantly strengthened by our Western partners, as well as the success of the Armed Forces.

According to the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office, when Russia planned a military operation in Ukraine, it expected that it would be very short, and the consequences in the form of sanctions would not be so significant.

“But today we have a long battle around many cities in Ukraine. We see that this is already a humanitarian catastrophe in the heart of Europe, and, of course, the package of sanctions that our Western partners impose on Russia today causes extremely significant consequences for them, which will last for a year or two or three, even if they are lifted today,” said Mykhailo Podoliak.

He noted that sanctions have already ruined the Russian economy, so the Russian side seeks to reach some solutions in the negotiations.

“It is clear that these decisions should be in the interests of Ukraine, because when they entered the negotiation process, it was one position… Today Ukraine is fighting as no one expected,” said the Adviser to the President’s Office.

He also stressed that the Ukrainian side is ready to continue talks at any time, and suggested that the next round of talks with Russia will take place in a few days.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 March 2022.

During the second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia, the parties reached an agreement on joint provision of humanitarian corridors. The Ukrainian state requests the International Committee of the Red Cross to take urgent action to organize humanitarian corridors and is ready to do everything necessary to evacuate the civilian population and deliver humanitarian goods.

Due to constant shelling by Russian troops, a number of Ukrainian towns and villages are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands of people are in urgent need of evacuation. These cities lack food, water, medicine, electricity and water.

Settlements in the areas of hostilities that require the creation of humanitarian corridors are located in Sumy region (Sumy, Shostka, Romny, Konotop, Okhtyrka), Chernihiv region (eastern and northern parts), Kharkiv region (all of the region except the south-eastern parts), Kyiv (Bucha, Irpin, Vyshhorod, Ivankiv, Vasylkiv, Borodyanka), Mykolaiv region (Bashtansky, Snihuriv, Bereznehuvatsky directions), Zaporizhzhia region (Tokmatsky, Berdyansk, Velykobilozersky directions), Kherson (Chaplynka, Kalanchak, Henichesky and Novokakhovsky directions), Luhansk and Donetsk regions (Volnovakha district, Mariupol district), etc.

“Ukraine has sent all the necessary requests to international organizations to create humanitarian corridors for the delivery of essentials and evacuation of civilians. Unfortunately, there has not been any consent of the Russian side so far. Today’s agreements on the results of the second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia give us cautious hope that we will finally be able to help our citizens,” said Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, member of the Coordination Staff for Humanitarian Affairs and social issues.

“Elderly people, women and children do not receive medical care, babies are born in basements and the first thing they hear in their lives is the sound of explosions. Civilians lack food and drinking water, many of them are people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Bringing them to dehydration, exhaustion, and suffering from a lack of timely medical care in the 21st century is nothing but torture. We very much hope that the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr Peter Maurer will do everything to deploy work in the humanitarian corridors to save lives as soon as possible,” says Tetiana Lomakina, coordinator of actions on Humanitarian corridors from the Office of the President.

“During the 8 days of the war, 28 children were killed and 64 were wounded by the Russian occupiers. Maternity hospitals, kindergartens, schools were destroyed,” says the Adviser-Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Children’s Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk. “Nearly one and a half million children are suffering from shelling in the affected areas and they are under siege now. Among them, there are orphans and children with disabilities who need immediate assistance”.

The Ukrainian side is ready to ensure the transportation of people and the delivery of humanitarian goods. The Ukrainian Armed Forces guarantee safe passage of the corridor. Ukraine is expecting this from the Russian side.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 March 2022.

The invaders are creating a humanitarian crisis in the occupied cities of Ukraine, blocking Ukraine’s “green corridors” and thus forcing people to leave to the territory of Russia. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a conversation with representatives of the Western media.

“Humanitarian cargoes for food, drinking water, medicines, insulin, there are especially many appeals from retirees – they are constantly sent on. Entrances for our humanitarian cargoes in the occupied towns have been blocked,” the Head of State said.

According to the President, the invaders are deliberately blocking the “green corridors” so that their humanitarian goods can enter the city from the other side.

They also do not allow Kharkiv residents to pass through “green corridors” to other regions of Ukraine, but instead create conditions and corridors for our citizens to leave to the territory of Russia, said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“They say: ‘Here’s another green corridor’. Go to Russia. Come to Russia, we will give you food, water, no one will kill you there,” he said.

The President stressed that Ukraine will never ban or hinder the departure of citizens to Russia who decide to do so for rescue or other reasons. However, he stressed, Ukrainians do not want to go to Russia.

“I can’t force people to go to Russia. I can’t drive them with sticks. Many of them say: “We will not go there,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated.

The Head of State also noted that difficult living conditions are being created in the Russian-occupied settlements, which were unable to repel the attack in conditions when the invader significantly outnumbered them.

“Somewhere in some towns, they cut off electricity, take food from stores and then distribute stolen goods in the square to the people with the words: “There you go. We brought you the humanitarian convoy”. Cynicism,” the President summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 March 2022.

If the world does not help Ukraine stop the Russian Federation now, the aggressor will go to other countries in Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and beyond. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during a conversation with representatives of the Western media.

“If Ukraine does not stop all this and if the whole world does not unite around the determination of Ukraine, then there will be Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia, Poland, and so they will go to the Berlin Wall,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked those countries that support Ukraine and transfer weapons, although the delay in this issue costs “thousands of lives of Ukrainians”.

The Head of State also noted that when he became President of Ukraine, he spoke from the very beginning about the need for security guarantees for our country.

According to him, alliances of states such as NATO or the EU must defend their alliances, otherwise they will cease to exist. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that there should have been a decisive response to both the migration crisis caused by Belarus and the construction of Nord Stream 2, which has been an energy weapon and a means of pressure from Russia from the very beginning.

“I’m not saying we have to start a war, but the strength of an alliance is that it doesn’t allow war. The world must show its strength without fighting,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He added that the serious sanctions that have now finally been imposed on Russia have been the right measure.

However, according to the President of Ukraine, if the world had imposed preventive sanctions against the Russian Federation before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia would not have taken such a step.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the most important step now would be to close the sky over Ukraine, and he spoke about this with US President Joseph Biden and other foreign leaders.

“The constant bombing of non-military infrastructure kills civilians. Tonight there was a bombing of Kyiv and other cities. You saw what was happening in Kharkiv in recent days, Mariupol was shelled. Moreover, missiles, Iskanders and bombers are flying from the territory of both Belarus and Russia,” he said.

The President noted that if NATO countries cannot close the sky over Ukraine, they should at least provide it with military aircraft.

“We found all these planes, they have plenty. New planes. Are they very expensive, are they more expensive than human life? Well, we found planes from the Soviet era. Can we get them to repel the attacks? On our land, not on the territory of Russia, not on the territory of Belarus, but exclusively on Ukrainian land,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The President stated that “the whole world was late with Ukraine”.

“And may them forgive me. Their people told them about it, not my people. You see what is happening in all squares of the world, how people come out and support. Because all these people are people,” the President summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 March 2022.

During the second round of talks, the representatives of Ukraine and the Russian Federation reached an agreement on joint provision of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, as well as for the delivery of medicines and food to the areas of the fiercest fighting. This was announced by Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak following the talks.

“The parties reached an agreement on joint provision of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, as well as for the delivery of medicines and food to the places of the fiercest fighting with the possibility of temporary ceasefire for the period of evacuation in the sectors where it takes place. Not everywhere, but only in those places where there are humanitarian corridors, there may be a ceasefire during the evacuation,” Mykhailo Podoliak said.

According to him, for this purpose, special channels of communication and interaction will be organized in the near future, and appropriate logistics procedures will be formed.

At the same time, the Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine stressed that the Ukrainian delegation had not achieved the expected results during the talks.

“The humanitarian aspect was discussed in detail, because many cities are currently surrounded. There is a dramatic situation with food, medicine, with the possibility of evacuation. We have agreed to continue working in the third round as soon as possible,” Mykhailo Podoliak said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 March 2022.

Ukrainians do not take anything from anyone, but protect their land and their freedom. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview for foreign media.

“We have a special state and very special people. I really wouldn’t wish their destruction. I wish they all stayed, and not just in the stories. I would not like a story about Ukraine as a legend about 300 Spartans. I want peace and I want it to come to my country,” he said.

At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed: “We are on our land, ready for anything.” He noted that the Russian army, which is fighting against the Ukrainian state, significantly outnumbers the Ukrainian army; the enemy does not count his people and does not take into account any losses.

“They brought a crematorium with them. That is, they are not going to show their families, their mothers, in advance that their children died here, that they came here to kill us. We are defending our freedom, our home, and that is why they are dying,” the President said.

He called such behavior of the Russian aggressor an act of genocide, which despite the tragic lessons of history is committed in the XXI century already.

“If we can’t stop such steps, this is the end of the world. And the end of the world for such people,” the Head of State is convinced.

According to him, today Ukraine is a “fence” between civilization and non-civilization.

The President noted that it is impossible to determine the time intervals in which Ukraine will be able to repel Russian aggression.

“We are not holding on in terms of time – we are holding on in terms of us, we are defending because it is our job. A job that has become the preservation of our lives, our history, our family,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Head of State noted that he, like anyone, worries about the lives of his loved ones, but shares the pain of every Ukrainian in these difficult times.

“We are afraid for our loved ones. And we are very afraid of losing the place we live in. I am afraid to imagine that I do not have a state, and you are asked: “Where are you from?”, And you say: “There is no such country.” I’m afraid of that. I am afraid of what we will leave to our future generations,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that if he had not been President, he would have joined the Territorial Defense Forces to help Ukrainian defenders repel the military invasion.

“I would provide food, shoot, help, I would do what I was told. But if I had been told an ultimatum: you must lay down your arms, go to the other side, I would not have done so. No matter what warrior I am. That’s the difference. Because we are here, we defend our own. We are not taking anything away,” the Head of State stressed.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 March 2022.

In launching a war on our country, President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia would “de-Nazify” and free Ukraine. But Ukraine — a nation that lost as many as eight million lives in World War II, a country that has a Jewish president — does not need to be freed from the liberated path it has chosen.

Not since the end of World War II has Europe seen violence and naked territorial ambition at such a scale.

I am writing this appeal from a bunker in the capital, with President Volodymyr Zelensky by my side. For a week, Russian bombs have fallen overhead. Despite the constant barrage of Russian fire, we stand firm and united in our resolve to defeat the invaders. We will fight to the last breath to protect our country.

But make no mistake: Other autocrats are watching, taking lessons. They can create a coalition of bad will — just look at how once-peaceful Belarus is now serving as a staging ground for Russian troops.

Listen to what Mr. Putin is saying. For years, the West listened to Mr. Putin but didn’t hear him; it is just now waking up to the existential challenge he poses to the world order. Ukraine has never underestimated his intentions — not since Russian aggression against our country began in earnest in 2014 — nor his willingness to achieve domination by any means necessary.

That’s because we know this war is not just about Ukraine. The Kremlin wants to create a new Russian empire.

We Ukrainians have proved that we are able to effectively repel the invasion force alone. We have used the weapons the West has provided. We are thankful to our American and European friends, to democracies worldwide including Australia and Japan, for their quick decisions to help us, for their sanctions against the Russian economy, for the armaments and equipment to deter the aggressor.

But it’s not enough. We need more — and, please, stop telling us military aid is on the way. Nothing less than our freedom — and yours — is at stake.

In President Zelensky’s call with President Biden on Tuesday, he again appealed for more security, military and humanitarian assistance.

Since 2014, the West’s critical security assistance helped to transform a Ukrainian military that is now capable of mounting a defense and inflicting large-scale casualties against the Russian invaders. Ukraine is not asking for its allies to put boots on the ground. But we need the West to back us up in order to keep defending our families and our land. We need to show Russia — in painful terms — the mistake it has made.

The Russians underestimated our resolve and we’ve held them off for now. But as we speak, a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian troops and equipment is closing in on Kyiv.

We need antitank and antiaircraft weapons and other ammunition delivered to our brave soldiers right now.

We are calling on the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. We recognize that this would be a serious escalation in the war and that it could bring NATO into direct conflict with Russia. But we firmly believe that Russia won’t stop at just Ukraine, which would potentially drag NATO into this conflict anyway. A no-fly zone would at least give Mr. Putin some pause.

We also ask the West to increase the nonmilitary costs on Russia. We welcome the coordinated measures thus far, but we need more. Every Russian bank — not just a select few — must be cut off from the SWIFT banking system, and every Russian oligarch must be sanctioned. We are also calling for a full embargo on Russian oil and all Russian exports to the United States and Europe. These measures would not be without cost to the world economy, but the alternative is far worse.

The international community should consider expelling Russia from the United Nations or, at the very least, excluding it from the Security Council, where it has a veto.

Russia is waging war on Ukraine to destroy its democracy, its alignment with the West and the spirit of the Ukrainian people. Not content to strangle most political opposition and forms of civic expression within Russia, the ex-K.G.B. clique now running the country is using its position to further a revisionist ideology — one that hungers to reassert Moscow’s control over the former Soviet Union countries and to discredit the democratic world for its failure to stay united and respond. Again, make no mistake: Mr. Putin aims to advance this ideology by going for blood beyond Ukraine. He must be stopped.

The shelling across Ukraine is not letting up; it’s gotten worse here in Kyiv, with women, children and other noncombatants taking refuge in bunkers and subway stations while Russia’s invading forces indiscriminately strike residential buildings and civilians. A high-rise apartment building has been hit, and at least one hospital has been damaged. They have fired rockets into the center of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and attacked the Chernobyl power plant.

This is Moscow’s way of war. Mr. Putin’s forces will continue to terrorize the country to induce surrender. If they don’t succeed, they will burn it all down. It’s either bow or vanish; no third option is allowed.

This is not going as planned for Russia, however. Everyday Ukrainians are confronting Russian soldiers, blocking tanks with their bodies. Russian forces are experiencing fierce resistance from both the Armed Forces of Ukraine and from Ukrainian citizens hurling homemade Molotov cocktails that Ukraine’s government is encouraging them to make. Ukrainians are defending their streets, their communities, their country and their identity. At the same time, Russian soldiers are surrendering en masse or sabotaging their own vehicles to avoid fighting, according to the Pentagon. They must know this war is unjust.

We beseech our Western allies and partners to make the costs unbearable for Russia now.

Article 4 of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances guaranteed that the United States, Britain and Russia would seek “immediate” action from the United Nations Security Council “to provide assistance” if Ukraine “should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.” Just because the aggressor — Russia — vetoes U.N. Security Council action does not relieve the other parties of the promises they made to Ukraine.

Even though Mr. Zelensky and I cannot be physically alongside every brave Ukrainian fighting for this country, our spirit is with them.

Every day brings the possibility that our words may be our final ones. So let them be a plea for support for a free Ukraine.

We have been able to withstand intense fighting in recent days despite the vicious brutality of the Russian aggressors, and we will continue to fight — even if Russia becomes an occupying force in Ukraine. We are united around the Ukrainian flag, the symbol of our identity, our resolve and our will, but our state’s future and survival largely depend on the West.

This war could be a prologue to a greater European or even global massacre. As President Zelensky wrote on Twitter after a strike hit near Ukraine’s sacred memorial to Jews massacred in World War II, “what is the point of saying ‘never again’ for 80 years, if the world stays silent?”

Standing with us today and helping us is the only way to achieve peace for all and ensure that history does not repeat itself — so that our future does not echo Europe’s darkest time.