“Future of Europe” at stake
Selenskyj insists on Russian security guarantees
02/23/2022, 4:19 p.m
According to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Europe is at a crossroads. The future of the entire continent will be decided in Ukraine. The head of state is therefore immediately demanding security guarantees from Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for security guarantees for his country in the face of fears of a major Russian attack. “Ukraine needs security guarantees. Clear, concrete and immediate,” said Zelenskyj after a meeting with his Polish colleague Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Kiev. “I believe that Russia must be among the countries that give clear security guarantees.”
According to the Ukrainian President, the conflict with Russia has a decisive influence on the future of Europe. “We share the conviction that the future of European security is being decided right now, here in our homeland, in Ukraine,” said Zelenskyj at a press conference with his colleagues from Poland and Lithuania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine on Monday and announced that Russian soldiers would be sent to the region. The West responded to Putin’s escalation course with a wave of sanctions. Zelenskyy warned on Tuesday that the recognition of the separatist areas was a harbinger of a more extensive military invasion of Russia.
declaration published
At the joint meeting, Poland and Lithuania also expressed their solidarity with Ukraine. “This unprovoked step of aggression by Russia is another gross violation of the basic norms and principles of international law,” the statement said. The declaration was signed by Duda and Nauseda together with their Ukrainian colleague Zelenskyy.
The international community should take “determined and far-reaching steps” against this aggressive act by Russia, it said. Moscow should withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s borders and from the “occupied territories of Ukraine”. In addition to the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are under separatist control, Kiev also considers the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to be Russian-occupied.
Lithuania and Poland also expressly support the neighboring country’s accession to the EU. Not least because of the current security situation, Ukraine deserves this, and Lithuania and Poland support it, the joint statement said.