February 24, 2022 will forever be remembered as the day Russia began its brutal, unprovoked and unlawful invasion of Ukraine. It was, and still is, pure and simple aggression and a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter. This war is neither “a European question”, nor a matter of “the West against the others”.
It is about determining the kind of world we want to live in: no one is safe in a world where the unlawful use of force – exercised by a nuclear power and a permanent member of the Security Council – would somehow so “normalized”. This is why international law must apply everywhere in order to protect everyone from power politics, blackmail and military attacks.
A year later, there is a risk that people will become desensitized to images of war crimes and atrocities – because there are so many of them; that the words we use begin to lose their meaning – because we have to repeat them so often; that we get tired and our determination weakens – because time passes and the task at hand is difficult.
We cannot allow this to happen. Because every day, Russia continues to violate the United Nations Charter, setting a dangerous precedent for the whole world with its imperialist policy. Every day, Russia continues to kill innocent Ukrainian women, men and children, raining its missiles down on cities and civilian infrastructure. Every day, Russia continues to spread lies and fabrications.
“Triple Strategy”
For the European Union (EU) and our partners, there is no choice but to maintain the course of our “triple strategy”: supporting Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia to end to its unlawful aggression and help the rest of the world deal with the consequences of this war.
This is what we have been doing for a year now, and with success. We have passed unprecedented sanctions, massively reduced our reliance on Russian fossil fuels and, working closely with key partners, cut by 50% the revenue the Kremlin gets from its energy sales to fund its assault. Working together, we have also mitigated the global impact by containing food and energy prices, including through the ‘Solidarity Lanes’ we have put in place and the ‘Community Grains Initiative’. black Sea “.
It is not enough to say that we want Ukraine to be able to defend itself, we must also give it the means to do so. Thus, for the very first time, the EU has supplied arms to a country under attack. The EU is now the leading provider of military training for Ukrainian personnel so that they can defend their country. We also offer significant macro-financial and humanitarian aid to support the Ukrainian people. And we decided to respond positively to Ukraine’s application for EU membership.
Finally, we are working to hold those responsible for Russia’s war crimes to account.
Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience, not least thanks to this support. As for Russia, it has become more isolated, due to global sanctions and the condemnation of its action by the overwhelming majority of member states of the United Nations General Assembly. Our collective objective is and remains for a democratic Ukraine to prevail, repelling the invader, restoring its full sovereignty and thereby restoring international legality.
What we want above all is peace in Ukraine, a comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Supporting Ukraine and working for peace go hand in hand.
Frontal attacks
Russia’s actions constitute frontal attacks on the principle of territorial integrity, sovereignty and international law. If Russia were to succeed, the repercussions would unfold globally since this aggression is indeed a typical example of an imperialist mindset.
We must make it clear that Russia’s actions are responsible for the economic shock waves that are currently being felt.
Acting in concert with Canada and our partners, we have provided massive assistance to Ukraine in the areas of defence, humanitarian aid and financial aid, and we have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and to his war machine. We also worked together to counter Russian misinformation about the war and its aftermath. Our joint efforts have helped alleviate the global food and energy crisis resulting from Russia’s war. Our transatlantic partnership has proven strong and unwavering.
History and justice are on Ukraine’s side. But to accelerate history and achieve justice, we must amplify our “triple strategy”. We know this is a collective task. This is why the EU is counting on all our partners to act together in a spirit of responsibility and solidarity, so that aggression fails and international law prevails.