There is no alternative to the three-pronged strategy: support Kiev, pressure Russia to end its aggression, and help the world deal with the consequences.
February 24, 2022 will forever be remembered as the day Russia began its brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. It was and still is a clear case of aggression and violation of the Charter of the United Nations. This war is not “just a European issue” nor is it a “West against the rest” struggle. What is at stake is the kind of world we all want to live in. No one is safe in a world in which the illegal use of force, which in this case is also carried out by a nuclear power and permanent member of the Security Council, is normalized. Therefore, international law must apply everywhere to protect us from abuse of power, blackmail and military attack.
A year later, there is a risk that people will get used to the images of war crimes and atrocities they see, because there are so many of them; that the words we use start to lose their meaning, because we have to repeat them so often; and that we get tired and weaken our determination, because time passes and the task ahead is difficult. But we have to persist. With each passing day, Russia continues to violate the UN Charter, creating a dangerous imperialist precedent, killing innocent Ukrainian women, men and children, launching its missiles on cities and civilian infrastructure and spreading lies.
For the European Union and our partners, there is no alternative but to stay the course of our three-pronged strategy: support Ukraine, pressure Russia to end its aggression and help the rest of the world cope with the consequences. And this is what we have been doing for a year successfully. We have adopted unprecedented sanctions, reduced our dependence on Russian fossil fuels and, working closely with our main allies, reduced by 50% the energy revenues that the Kremlin obtains to finance itself. Working together, and thanks in part to our Solidarity Routes and the Black Sea Grain Initiative, we are already bringing down food and energy prices.
It is not enough to say that we want Ukraine to be able to defend itself. You need the means to do it. And for this reason, for the first time, the EU has supplied weapons to an attacked country and is the main provider of military training for the Ukrainian Army. We are also offering significant macro-financial and humanitarian assistance and have decided to respond positively to Ukraine’s request to join the EU. And at the same time, we are working to ensure that Russia is held accountable for its war crimes. Russia has been further isolated by global sanctions and condemnation by the overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly.
Ukraine has demonstrated its remarkable resilience, and our collective goal is and remains a democratic Ukraine that drives out the invader and restores its full sovereignty. Above all, we want peace in Ukraine, a comprehensive and lasting peace that conforms to the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Supporting Ukraine and working for peace go hand in hand. History and justice are on the side of Ukraine. But to speed up the story and achieve justice we need to leverage our three-pronged strategy. We know that it is a collective task and that is why the EU calls on all its partners to act in a spirit of joint responsibility to ensure that aggression fails, international law prevails and we achieve peace.
#Helping #Ukraine #working #peace #hand #hand