On 18 April 2022, at the initiative of the Razumkov Centre, the Public Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine adopted a statement on Russian aggression.
The war waged by Russia against Ukraine is a total war crime, a crime against humanity, a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Now not only the fate of Ukraine and Europe is being decided, but also the future of the world order as a whole. Unfortunately, global and regional security institutions have failed to stop Russian aggression. At the same time, a strong coalition of states in solidarity with Ukraine has been formed, providingpolitical, military, financial and economic support. Ukraine’s most active allies include the United States, theUnited Kingdom, Poland, the Baltic states, other EU and NATO countries and many more. The sanctions policy is intensifying, with continued international isolation of the Putin’s regime. But in this crucial period, it is essential to strengthen the solidarity and practical support of Ukraine by the civilised world. With this in mind, the Public Council states the following.
1. Expansion of operational supplies of heavy weapons for the Ukrainian army is now becoming critical. Itparticularly concerns the supply of weapons according to the nomenclature published by President Zelenskyy in his recent address to the world. Military assistance is vital, because the fate of Europe is now being decided not in the UN or OSCE discussion forums, but in the Donbas.
2. The sanctions policy of the West needs to be improved and strengthened, especially given that Europe’s daily payments for Russian energy (about 1 billion euros) significantly offset sanctions efforts by filling the aggressor's military budget. Therefore, it is strategically important to immediately impose the most comprehensive embargo on Russian energy. Unfortunately, the issue of total disconnection of the Russian banking system from SWIFT remains unresolved.
3. The course of European and Euro-Atlantic integration does not preclude the search for effective and reliable security guarantees that can be provided to Ukraine by the states that became true allies of Kyiv during the war. The Public Council supports the negotiation process in this direction.
4. An important stage of Ukraine’s European integration has come — gaining the status of a candidate for EU membership. The Public Council believes that in the conditions of war Brussels' decision to grant such a status is not only a powerful motive for internal changes, but also an extremely important moral and psychological factor for the people of Ukraine that will strengthen its resistance and faith in our country's European future.
