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Ukraine’s evangelicals need US support

by Andriy Yermak

Published on April 5, 2024

Prior to Russia’s full-fledged invasion, 7,170 Protestant associations, educational institutions, and churches found refuge in Ukraine. And to this day, Ukraine retains the distinction of being Europe’s largest evangelical country, with approximately 800,000 to 1 million individuals attending Protestant churches every Sunday. Despite what Putin would like Americans to believe, Ukraine is Europe’s evangelical stronghold — the “Bible Belt” of Eastern Europe.

This flourishing evangelical presence in Ukraine owes much to the country’s restored independence from Russia in 1991 — and to America’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s evangelical population. Although Ukraine had been a land of diverse religious affiliations, with Protestantism deeply ingrained in its culture, Soviet repression and persecution once targeted those who dared to express their faith.

After Ukraine’s independence, the country welcomed hundreds of thousands of American preachers, missionaries, and ministers annually. With the Ukrainian government’s support, Americans played pivotal roles in reestablishing Ukraine’s evangelical community by building churches, organizing children’s camps, and worshipping together with Ukrainians.

Although Ukraine has a much larger Orthodox Christian population, Protestants have seamlessly integrated into society without facing restrictions or prohibitions. They enjoy access to education, employment opportunities, and the freedom to assemble for gatherings, prayers, and services. Notably, many Protestant individuals have risen to prominence in various fields, including politics, business, and the military — a phenomenon uncommon in post-Soviet territories, yet characteristic of Ukraine’s commitment to freedom and human rights.

However, since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and initial occupation of Eastern Ukraine, Putin stands as an adversary of Christianity, freedom of religion, and the church itself. Churches have been shuttered, ministers detained and tortured, and religious freedom suppressed. The full-scale invasion of 2022 intensified and brought this assault on Protestantism to newly-seized territories.

Among the Russian occupiers’ most brutal assaults is the martyrdom of Pentecostals in Sloviansk. In June 2014, four members of the Transfiguration of the Lord Church, including two deacons, were captured and executed by fighters aligned with Russia. There is also the near-fatal beating of Pastor Oleksandr Salfetnikov, who had remained in occupied Balaklia to assist several church members who were unable to relocate. After a few weeks, he was abducted by FSB officers and subjected to torture. He narrowly survived the ordeal.

This persecution extends beyond temporarily occupied Ukraine’s territories, with evangelicals in Russia also subjected to state-sponsored repression. Draconian laws enacted in 2016 severely curtailed the activities of Protestant churches, banning missionary work and restricting foreign involvement in religious services. At the same time, Jehovah’s Witnesses were labeled as extremists, which led to the closure of Kingdom Halls and the persecution of congregants.

Russia’s disdain for Christianity is evident in its systematic assault on religious freedom and the brutal treatment of evangelical Christians both at home and abroad. To be an evangelical Christian in Russia is to be deemed an enemy of the state and society — a grim reality reflected in legislation passed by the Putin-controlled Duma and statistics of persecution inside Russia.

Despite the false narrative propagated by some American media outlets portraying Putin as a defender of Christianity, reality paints a different picture. Russia’s hostility toward evangelical Christians is manifested through draconian laws, violent crackdowns, and desecration of places of worship. Russia operates as a totalitarian regime, imposing strict laws and repression upon Christians. Any deviation from Orthodox beliefs aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate brands you an enemy.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a long history of evangelical cooperation between Americans and Ukrainians. In 2007, Rev. Franklin Graham delivered a sermon to a packed Olympic Stadium in Kyiv of 100,000 people. Franklin’s celebrated father, Rev. Billy Graham, along with Viktor Gumm and numerous others, frequently visited Ukraine. Some of America’s most renowned preachers have worshipped with Ukrainian evangelicals.

It is time for American and Ukrainian evangelicals to come together once again to ensure religious tolerance in Ukraine. As the Apostle Paul wrote, let us extend goodwill to all, especially to fellow believers. As Ukraine struggles for its sovereignty and survival, it also struggles for the freedom to worship, just as Baptists in Louisiana or Minnesota can worship freely and without fear of repression. However, unfortunately for evangelical Christians in occupied Donetsk or Crimea, worshipping carries extreme danger. Russians may call themselves Christians, but their crimes against humanity speak for themselves.

Let us heed the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

The time has come to sow the seeds of justice and righteousness, standing firm against tyranny and upholding the principles of freedom and faith, for evangelicals in America, in Ukraine, and throughout the world.

Andriy Yermak, a film producer, serves as head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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The Oil Weapon Against Moscow

In 1986 the U.S. and Saudi Arabia raised production. That move contributed to the Soviet collapse.

by Andriy Yermak

Published on March 26, 2024

Russia’s economy depends on the country’s natural resources, as it did in the Soviet era. Its growth depends on the price of oil—which contributed to the collapse of the Soviet empire and will determine Vladimir Putin’s current bid to restore the regime. It is oil that can thwart the Russian dictator’s revanchist ambitions.

In 1984, 613 million tons of oil were extracted in the Soviet Union—3 million tons less than in 1983 and well below that year’s target of 624 million tons. The Soviets sustained enormous financial losses because of the shortfall, exposing the vulnerability of the economy, which was depleting old oil deposits. To increase production, the U.S.S.R. needed Western technology. It also needed Western money, which it funneled into its military-industrial complex to threaten the West. When Mr. Putin turned energy into a geopolitical weapon, he was using an old Soviet playbook.

Then, the West saw an opportunity to erode Moscow’s finances by lowering oil prices and increasing output—as it should today. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia developed a plan to lower the price of oil. A reduction of $10 a barrel would mean a $10 billion loss for the Soviets over a year. Saudi Arabia, the most influential player in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, bucked OPEC’s consensus and increased production. The U.S. also stepped up production—and imposed an embargo on technology exports to the U.S.S.R. Oil prices plummeted even more than expected—to $12 a barrel. The colossal losses, combined with massive military spending, undermined the Soviet economy.

What happened later is well known: The U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991. The world’s largest nuclear arsenal couldn’t save it.

But history shows that when Russia is flush with oil money, it tries to reassert its global dominance. Russia’s growth under Mr. Putin is thanks to soaring oil prices. In 2011-14, oil and gas revenue in Russia exceeded 50% of federal revenue. In recent years, oil and gas have accounted for up to 60% of Russia’s total goods exports and 40% of federal revenue.

Billions of dollars in oil and gas profits fuel the Kremlin’s imperialism and revanchism. The West must ratchet up sanctions to make Russia’s oil trade less profitable, while also increasing Saudi and U.S. oil output. The West should also cut off Russia’s access to technologies, including by imposing sanctions on intermediaries. Lowering oil’s price to $30 a barrel would help. But without new supply sources, price caps won’t work. Ukraine and the world need Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to take the lead. As in the 1980s, increasing production will tame both Moscow and Tehran, which is the key to peace in Europe and the Middle East.

I co-chair an international working group on sanctions with Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia. According to estimates by our group, restrictions on Russian oil, including the European Union embargo and Group of Seven price cap, have cost Moscow $113 billion in export revenue since the invasion. Russia still allocated $102 billion for military spending in 2023, keeping the war machine well-funded and giving Mr. Putin scant incentive to negotiate. For Ukraine to prevail, oil prices must come down significantly.

The Kremlin is incapable of engaging in equal dialogue—it only pretends to do so. From 2014 to 2022, Ukraine conducted some 200 rounds of negotiations with Russia, seeking a peaceful resolution to Moscow’s attempted annexation of Crimea and temporary occupation of parts of Eastern Ukraine. Every time, Russia violated any arrangements. As long as Moscow refuses to recognize Ukraine’s international sovereignty, efforts at peace are futile.

Mr. Putin’s Russia, fueled by oil revenue, has no incentive to pursue peace, but instead aims to restore the U.S.S.R. and its sphere of influence. Mr. Putin isn’t bound by ideological principles other than a lust for power and will support extremists around the world to promote chaos. Pursuing this malign agenda requires oil revenue.

To save the world from another century of turmoil, the West must replicate the successful example from the 1980s. Once again, it can outmaneuver Moscow and Tehran and reclaim the initiative.

Mr. Yermak is head of the Office of the president of Ukraine.

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Ukraine is now fighting two wars at once

by Andriy Yermak

Published on March 15, 2024

As Ukraine enters a third year defending itself against Russia’s illegal and barbaric war that has left hundreds of thousands of its people displaced and mourning the loss of loved ones, many observers would expect Ukrainians to turn inward and want to focus solely on rebuilding their own country. Yet even amidst the horrors of Putin’s war, I have been heartened by Ukrainians’ continued desire to reach out to the wider world and help those also struggling in desperate circumstances. Nothing better exemplifies this than Ukraine’s humanitarian initiative ‘Grain from Ukraine’, which is part of President Zelensky’s Peace Formula. Launched in 2022, this programme has been delivering much needed food supplies to countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East whose populations face severe food insecurity, hunger and potential famine. In cooperation with the UN World Food Programme, more than 30 countries and international organisations have joined Ukraine in delivering the initiative, and, by the end of 2023, over 170,000 tons of grain had been delivered to countries experiencing the most challenging food situations, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Yemen.

In these early months of 2024, already two more countries – Nigeria and Sudan – have been added to the list, with grain and wheat flour received from Ukraine serving as a much-needed lifeline to vulnerable populations there. The ongoing conflict and persistent violence in northeast Nigeria has displaced 2.2 million people and left another 4.4 million food insecure, with prices of food staples rising. Ukraine’s shipment of 25,000 tons of grain, which arrived in Port Harcourt last month, will help alleviate the pressure on many impacted people who would otherwise have no easy access to food. In Sudan, which is grappling with an ongoing armed conflict and the world’s largest internal displacement crisis thus far, half of its 50 million people need food aid, approximately eight million of whom have been uprooted from their homes. The recent arrival of 7,665 metric tons of wheat flour in the country will help feed for a month, over a million Sudanese affected by the conflict. Ukraine’s support for populations facing extreme hunger demonstrates humanitarian concern by Ukrainians for others facing misfortune around the world; more significantly it highlights the underlying values divide at the heart of Russia’s war – between belief in a shared humanity and peaceful co-existence, and the use of brutal aggression to try and coerce other by force. For it is not just those suffering the impact of internal conflict whom Grain from Ukraine is supporting, and not just Ukrainians who are being harmed by Russia’s invasion. The knock-on effects of Putin’s war are being felt much further afield, not least by the 70 million people around the world now on the brink of starvation. By disrupting the supply chains that previously allowed Ukraine to produce and export food to the rest of the world, Russia is multiplying the victims of its invasion, and demonstrating why Ukraine and its allies must prevail. Most of you reading this will be familiar with images of the war which bring to life the fortitude and determination of Ukrainians defending their homeland, their families and their way of life. Ukraine’s determination to drive back the Russian invaders is only matched by a steadfast commitment, even at a time of war, to continue to play a role in another important conflict: the fight against starvation, food insecurity, and extreme hunger. Building on the success of ‘Grain from Ukraine’ so far, plans are already in place to expand the global relief programme to other nations and a wider range of food products. As President Zelensky has emphasised repeatedly, never again should hunger be used as a weapon against the freedom of a people. Ukraine is firmly determined that, even in one of its darkest hours as a nation, it will remain a point of light for those facing extreme hunger, and a beacon of hope for the values that are being fought for on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. The free world must not let the light and hope to be extinguished. Andriy Yermak is Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

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Please, America — for our sake and for yours, don’t let your allies down

by Andriy Yermak

Published on February 21, 2024

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted in solidarity with Ukraine and other democracies threatened by authoritarian tyranny. Eighty years after the U.S. and Allied armies liberated Nazi-occupied Europe in World War II, history is again challenging freedom-loving nations.

What will history write of this new conflict between democracies and authoritarians? Will history be as kind this time to the Allies, whose World War II victory over the Nazis ushered in both the greatest period of peace and progress Europe had ever seen and unbridled prosperity for America?

The pages of 21st century history are being written now in Ukraine. It is up to the leaders of the free world to ensure that freedom, peace and prosperity are once again victorious.

Over the last 80 years, the U.S. and its allies and partners have honored the sacrifice of their gallant dead by keeping the bright light of democracy shining. To this day, people around the world look to the U.S. as the bearer of the beacon of democracy. Today, Ukraine hoists democracy’s torch and reflects on the words of John Adams: “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our maker.”

The U.S. Senate has upheld the wishes of America’s Founders to support the rights of all freedom seeking peoples.

As the third year begins of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, dark forces are again challenging the freedoms of those who live in democratic societies. While battles happening far from U.S. shores may seem to many an aggrandized threat, just look to history.

On the cusp of war in 1938, Britain and France negotiated a deal with Nazi and fascist regimes to stop Hitler from waging war. Far from pacifying Hitler, they gave him room to plunge the world into the greatest war the world had ever seen. The far shores of Europe became the burial ground for hundreds of thousands of American soldiers as a consequence.

The threat today is no less real than it was in 1938. Russia under Putin has signaled its desire to challenge the West — first with its invasion of Georgia in 2008, then with its annexation of Crimea in 2014, and now with its all-out war against Ukraine from 2022 to the present. And the parallels to World War II are many. As the Nazis united dictatorships, today’s Russian Federation has made common cause with Iran and North Korea, which are providing it drones and missiles.

As in the late 1930s, what happens in Ukraine will not be limited to Europe but will have lasting effects for the U.S. and its allies and partners around the world. We have already witnessed Iran’s horrific attacks on Israel through its proxy, Hamas. While some may want to separate the two attacks because they are in different military theaters, they are attacks by a common enemy directed at U.S. national interests. If the U.S. blinks in Ukraine, our common enemies will not hesitate to further test democracy’s resolve.

We do not know how long this war will last, or when or how it will end. But we do know that this is not a choice between war and peace, for if the aggressor wins, there will be no peace. If Russia defeats Ukraine, it will not just be a victory for the Russian dictatorship, but the first victory for its coalition of dictators. And what do victors do with victory? They keep going.

When Hitler dismembered Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland in 1939, the eventual result was a world war. A Russian occupation of Ukraine yielded by the U.S. and the West would make the world less secure for Israel, the Baltic States and U.S. forces overseas.

However, this doesn’t have to be the history of the 21st century. After World War II, the U.S. rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. This injection of U.S. capital into Europe created markets for U.S. goods and allies with whom the U.S. could share the burden of protecting democracy.

The prosperity and goodwill created through the Marshall Plan is a blueprint for the future of Ukraine that will create opportunities for American businesses. This includes the U.S. defense sector, which is already benefitting from U.S. expenditures on military goods deployed to Ukraine, and create a Ukrainian army ready to deter the West’s enemies from further attacks.

With U.S. support, Ukraine can not only win this war, but also demonstrate to America’s adversaries that the U.S. and its allies around the world will not blink in the face of aggression. They will not allow the flame of freedom lit by America’s founders to be extinguished. They will not allow the sacrifices of the last two years to be in vain. They will not allow those responsible for this destruction to go unpunished.

“We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars,” Ronald Reagan said in 1984. “It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.”

Today, some really want America to forget this, to back down in the face of tyranny. Ukraine believes in the strength of the U.S. and its Founding Fathers to ensure the flame of freedom casts light not only over America’s shores, but upon its allies around the world. Please, America, don’t let us down.

Andriy Yermak is chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

[yermak]

Victory Is Ukraine’s Only True Path to Peace

And EU and NATO Membership Are the Only Way to Achieve Enduring Security.

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Andriy Yermak

Published on January 11, 2024

For Ukraine, December 14 was a tale of two cities. In Brussels, the European Union’s leaders took the historic decision to open talks with Ukraine about joining the organization. For millions of Ukrainians, it was a moment of hope for a brighter future after enduring years of war and hardship. The message was clear: Ukraine belongs at the heart of Europe.

This vision of Ukraine’s future could not have been more different than the one being described by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the same day. Responding to pre-screened questions from journalists and handpicked citizens, Putin insisted during a televised press conference that Russia’s political and military aims had not changed since the beginning of the war. Russia has no interest in peace, he made clear, only the subjugation of Ukraine. Putin’s stage-managed affair broadcast the reality of modern-day Russia: a regime built not on democratic legitimacy but on lies and militaristic nationalism, and a government that relies on external conflict to deflect attention from internal failings.

As Putin pushes for a long war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is working for a sustainable peace. Because the consequences of Russia’s invasion have been global—from spiking energy costs to food shortages—Ukrainian officials have been working with counterparts from more than 80 countries to deliver on Ukraine’s “peace formula,” a 10-point plan first proposed by Zelensky in November 2022. On January 14, national security advisers for the leaders of these countries will gather for the fourth time in Davos, Switzerland, to continue elaborating a framework for a lasting and comprehensive peace. We believe that all civilized countries of the world shall support this endeavor.

As long as Putin is in charge, Russia will always threaten not just Ukraine but also the security of all of Europe. It is therefore vital for the democratic world to ensure that a free and independent Ukraine prevails. To do so, it should put in place the security architecture needed to deter a militaristic and imperialistic Russia. If Putin sees the West making strong commitments to Ukraine—through military assistance, accession to the EU, and membership in NATO—he will finally understand that he cannot outlast Kyiv. Only then is there a possibility of a sustainable peace.

STEP ONE: WIN THE WAR

To achieve a lasting peace, Ukraine needs to defeat Russia on the battlefield and restore its territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders. For two years, Ukrainian armed forces have heroically resisted Russia’s barbaric invasion. Making good use of Western-supplied weapons, they have managed to reclaim more than 50 percent of the land captured by Russia since February 2022. Meanwhile, the supply of modern air defense systems has dented the effectiveness of Russia’s brutal waves of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine will be forever grateful for the support the democratic world has shown during the country’s darkest hours.

Despite these successes, Russia will not end its war of aggression anytime soon. Its generals will continue to show complete disregard for the lives of their own forces, sending tens of thousands to die in a war of Putin’s choice. Russian and North Korean missiles and Iranian-made drones will continue to target Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure.

If military support for Ukraine falters, the consequences will be dire for Europe and the rest of the world. If Putin is allowed to achieve any of his goals in Ukraine, he will not stop there. Russia will threaten more of its neighbors, from Moldova to the Baltic states, and destabilize the globe. Other regional and global powers will take note of his success and use similar tactics to achieve their aims. A Ukrainian defeat would mark the start of the unraveling of the international system. Self-doubt in the West will lead to self-defeating decisions. History shows that appeasing dictators does not lead to peace; it only breeds future conflict. That is why it is essential for Ukraine’s allies to step up their support in 2024 and show that “as long as it takes” also means “as much as it takes.”

That philosophy was behind the Kyiv Security Compact we co-authored in 2022. That plan set out key principles for a series of long-term security guarantees that Ukraine needs from its allies to both win the war and prevent future Russian aggression. The compact formed the basis for the joint declaration of support for Ukraine that G-7 countries adopted on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania last July. As of today, 32 countries have signed on to this joint declaration and are holding consultations on bilateral agreements with Ukraine. These bilateral agreements will ensure that Ukrainian forces have the weapons they need to defeat Russia on the battlefield. Commitments to protect Ukraine over the long term refute Putin’s narrative that Western support for Ukraine is weakening.

Relying on its economic and demographic advantages, Russia is hoping to defeat Ukraine through a war of attrition. Therefore, Ukrainian victory relies on better utilizing the economic and industrial might of the democratic world, which dwarfs that of Russia and its allies. European countries, in particular, need to prepare their defense industries so they can effectively help Ukraine win this war. To do this, they should offer multiyear contracts for weapons, as well as guarantees, to give defense companies the certainty they need to ramp up production. Ukraine also needs its allies’ support in developing its defense industry. Together, the West can vastly outproduce Russia. It just needs to show the political will, so Putin understands that his war is unwinnable and that Russian forces will be driven outside of Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

MEMBER OF THE CLUB

In addition to securing the long-term supply of weapons and munitions to Ukraine, it is crucial for Europe and the United States to start putting structures in place to ensure that Russia can never threaten Europe’s security again. Moving Ukraine along its path to EU membership is essential because it provides the political and financial framework for Ukraine to recover and rebuild. A prosperous Ukraine that is part of the EU can act as a bulwark against an autocratic and aggressive Russia. Ideologically, a successful and vibrant democracy in Ukraine is also a strong rebuke of Putin’s autocratic rule.

Membership will bring an added layer of security to Ukraine as well, through the mutual defense clause included in the treaties that govern the EU. This clause states that “if a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power.” The threat of EU member states’ responding directly to future Russian aggression against Ukraine would be a powerful deterrent.

Long-term security guarantees and EU membership would go a long way toward protecting Ukraine, but neither can replace Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, which requires members to consider an armed attack against one of them as an attack against all. Bringing Ukraine into NATO remains the best way to bring lasting peace and security in Europe. At the December 14 press conference, Putin stated that Russia launched its invasion—or so called “special operation”—because Ukraine was set to join NATO. But the inverse is true: Russia could only invade Ukraine because it was not covered by NATO’s Article 5.

If at the end of the war, Ukraine is left in the gray zone between Russia and NATO, it will be a recipe for further instability and Russian aggression. This is a reality that both Finland and Sweden quickly recognized. After the February 2022 invasion, both countries saw that in the face of an imperialist Russia, neutrality was no longer an option and that only NATO membership could guarantee their sovereignty. The same goes for Ukraine.

At NATO’s July 2023 summit, members announced that an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance would be issued only once unspecified “conditions are met.” Ukraine had hoped for something more concrete than that. If Putin believes that Ukraine will be allowed to join NATO only when the fighting ends, it gives him an incentive to continue the war indefinitely. If Ukraine is invited to join the alliance beforehand, however, it could force him to stop.

Although the summit in Vilnius did not present Ukraine with a clear path toward NATO membership, there were positive developments. Members agreed to let Kyiv skip the “membership action plan” part of the traditional accession process, whereby countries submit annual reports about their progress on various security-related metrics. This exemption, which was also granted to Finland and Sweden, should accelerate Ukraine’s eventual accession. In Vilnius, the newly created Ukraine-NATO Council also held its first meeting, and it is already working on bringing Ukraine’s armed forces into alignment with NATO standards.

Still, at this year’s NATO summit in Washington, D.C., in July, the alliance’s leaders would bring the world closer to peace by wholeheartedly embracing Ukrainian membership. The time has come to issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO. That does not mean that Ukraine would become a member overnight, but it would send an unequivocal message to Putin that his war is already lost.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen is Founder of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and Rasmussen Global. He was Secretary-General of NATO from 2009 to 2014 and Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009. Andriy Yermak is Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

[yermak]

Germany stands with Ukraine in its existential struggle

No country wants peace more than Ukraine. But a simple cease-fire today would be tantamount to legitimizing Russia’s land grab and pave the way for yet another frozen conflict.

By Jens Plötner and Andriy Yermak

Published on December 15, 2023

The world is currently navigating turbulent waters, facing what some describe as a “perfect storm” of geopolitical, geostrategic and economic challenges. At its eye sits Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, with its wide-ranging global implications for food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and economic growth.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a daunting security challenge. It has left an indelible mark on the map of Europe, reshaping its political and economic dynamics. In his speech on February 27, 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Russia’s war of aggression as a Zeitenwende — a watershed moment after which the world would no longer be the same. Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has shattered peace on the Continent, constituting a “return of imperialism.”

While this is a war in Europe, however, it has major global consequences. It has challenged established norms of international conduct and tested the resilience of international institutions. The viability of the global security order following the end of the Cold War is now a central issue. And what is more, Russia’s invasion has raised questions about the effectiveness of existing international mechanisms in resolving conflicts.

For Ukraine, this is an existential fight to secure a free and democratic future, as Russia denies its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. So, it must come as no surprise that the Euro-Atlantic community considers Russia the most direct threat to its security.

And Germany stands by Ukraine in support of its self-defense against Russia’s aggression.

For the first time in its recent history, Germany is providing military support and arms to a party at war, and it has become the second largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine. German society has also engaged in efforts to help the country, as more than a million Ukrainians have found refuge in Germany, and over 200,000 Ukrainian children now attend German schools.

From providing humanitarian aid to power-generating equipment and treating Ukrainian soldiers and children in German hospitals, it is hard to overstate these efforts. In September, for example, the return of Roman Oleksiiv, the 8-year-old from Vinnytsia, shook the Ukrainian nation. Half of his body had been burned in a Russian air raid, and German doctors worked wonders saving him.

At the same time, the North Atlantic Alliance has taken bold decisions to further strengthen deterrence and defense as well. The recent NATO Summit in Vilnius contributed to the strengthening of the Ukraine-NATO partnership. And following the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, Berlin and Kyiv are now in intensive discussions on bilateral security commitments, which aim to sustain Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, increase its resilience in the long-term and deter future aggression.

Through significant multiannual commitments, Germany is spearheading efforts to support Ukraine with a clear message: We stand in solidarity with and support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

Ukraine belongs in the European family. Both the European Union, as well as Ukraine and Germany will benefit from Ukraine’s European integration and strengthen the EU’s ability to act. Ukraine has been committed to implementing reforms and is highly motivated to move on despite the war. It will maintain the course, and Germany will continue to support Ukraine in implementing the necessary reforms. We therefore salute the historical decision of the European Council to open the EU accession with Ukraine, inviting the Сouncil to adopt the negotiating framework once the relevant steps set out in the Commission recommendations of November 8, 2023 are taken.

Ukraine has been committed to implementing reforms and is highly motivated to move forward with accession. And Germany will continue to support Ukraine in implementing the necessary reforms.

Let there be no doubt that Hamas’ atrocious terrorist attacks and Israel’s response in legitimate self-defense have not weakened our resolve, or pulled away our attention. We must also remember what has been achieved so far: Ukraine has liberated over 50 percent of territories occupied by Russia after its full-fledged invasion — one Putin mistakenly thought would be a swift military campaign.

Today, we see Ukraine’s economy growing back despite Russia’s ongoing attempts to cripple its production and agricultural sector, including via continued attacks on Danube and Black Sea port facilities and infrastructure.

But how to end Russia’s war against Ukraine and achieve a just and lasting peace? To date, unfortunately, it has been immensely hard to see a resolution.

No country wants peace more than Ukraine. But let us be clear, a simple cease-fire today would be tantamount to legitimizing Russia’s land grab, and it would pave the way for yet another frozen conflict — a scenario that’s both unjust, dangerous and, moreover, unsustainable.

Sometimes we are confronted with the idea that any negotiated settlement or broader revision of the European security architecture must also consider Russia’s “legitimate security concerns.” However, let us recall that in response to Russia’s proposals before the current war, both NATO and the U.S. were ready to enter a broader discussion on European security that included all relevant countries, with the aim of promoting stability and transparency, and reducing the likelihood of future conflict. But instead of embracing a good faith discussion, Russia chose to go down the path of war.

Therefore, it seems obvious to us that whatever the perception of one’s own security concerns may be, these should not — and cannot — justify an invasion of a peaceful neighboring country.

In the meantime, we are once again witnessing Russia resorting to Cold War practices, attempting to broaden the conflict by involving proxy forces elsewhere in the world and playing on anti-Western sentiment in the global south. It is more than cynical that Russia is increasingly trying to justify its imperialist war via anti-colonial rhetoric.

Here, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Plan, based on the U.N. Charter and rooted in international law, offers a way out. And it cannot be stressed enough that it is Ukraine — the victim of unprovoked aggression — that has mustered up the courage to present to the world with a peace plan, while Russia continues to insist on a dictated peace, achieved either on its own terms or through military means.

Inspired by Zelenskyy’s Peace Plan, Ukraine, Germany and many other like-minded states have thus joined efforts to develop a common action plan. Together, we have actively participated in the Copenhagen, Jeddah and Malta meetings of national security advisors, and preparation for another such meeting is already underway.

The core idea behind this process is to have an in-depth discussion with global partners on the implications of Russia’s war, emphasizing common interests and concerns in order to ultimately achieve the widest possible international support for a peace process in Ukraine. As Zelenskyy put it, the Peace Plan is global in nature, as the concept behind it provides the possibility of reaching a just and equally safe peace for all nations.

In this sense, Ukraine and Germany agree that unity and collective effort are the only way to restore security, based on the principles of international law.

Both our countries are determined to defend and uphold a rules-based international order with a strong U.N. at its heart. This entails rights and rules that create protection and obligations for all states equally — among them respect for international humanitarian law and human rights, the sovereign equality of all states, a peaceful balance of interests and conflict prevention, as well as multilateral cooperation for the benefit of humanity and the protection of our natural resources.

This holds true not only for achieving peace in Ukraine but across the whole world.

Jens Plötner is foreign and security policy advisor to the German Federal Chancellor. Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

[yermak]

Defeat the 'Axis of Insanity'

by Andriy Yermak

Published on December 5, 2023

One of the many Kremlin dictators to attempt to break Ukraine was Joseph Stalin, who undertook and implemented the "Holodomor" – the Soviet's man-made plan of mass starvation targeting Ukraine in an attempt to eradicate our independence movement.

The Holodomor famine of 1932 and 1933 killed around four million Ukrainians in a blatant effort of genocide.

But Ukraine survived.

On the fourth Saturday of each November, as we have done in the past, our nation commemorated Holodomor victims by lighting candles in their memory.

This year, however, our ceremonies were interrupted by another Russian dictator.

Vladimir Putin chose our most solemn anniversary to launch his biggest drone and missile attack since he began his doomed invasion of Ukraine.

In a six-hour frenzy of attacks, Russian forces launched 75 Iranian-built kamikaze drones targeting Kyiv, our capital.

The results could have been devastating.

The aim of the attack was a war crime itself – on civilian areas intended to kill innocent women and children, among others.

Putin's attacks were clearly intended to test our defenses while spreading terror.

Thanks to the unyielding support of our ally the United States and supportive countries around the world we were able to shoot down 74 of the 75 drones as well as a cruise missile.

Sadly, the debris from the drones we destroyed fell on civilian areas – in one case damaging a kindergarten. An 11-year-old girl was among several people injured.

Yet the Russian blitzkrieg had clearly failed in every important respect.

The Kremlin had the plainest of answers to its terror test: Ukraine cannot be defeated.

Of course, Putin will not stop trying.

More drone armadas are certain to follow. And more Russian soldiers will be sent needlessly to their deaths.

As we approach winter, the Kremlin hasn't abandoned its attempts to destroy our energy grid, robbing us of light and heat.

How should we respond to his unrelenting belligerence?

What conclusions should the rest of the world draw from this madness we see in Ukraine but also in Israel and elsewhere?

In Israel we saw Hamas' monstrous attack mirror the types of attacks Russia's army has perpetrated on Ukraine.

In Yemen Houthi rebels are firing, with near impunity missiles, at U.S. warships and other targets across the region.

North Korea has once again scorned United Nations Security Council resolutions by placing a spy satellite in space.

Kim Jong-un and his equally sinister daughter, Jue Ae, are boasting of a "new era of space power."

Meanwhile Iran is a key figure in global belligerence while happily supplying its military hardware to anyone who hates America.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush famously spoke of an "Axis of Evil," originally comprising Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.

Today we are witnessing the spread of an Axis of Insanity defined by the most obscene and horrific military acts that civilized people cannot afford to ignore.

This new and evil Axis is a growing alliance of autocracies uniting to wage war against the free world with the United States as the number one target.

Thankfully, Ukraine is not alone in fighting against the Axis.

We remain a bastion of democratic expression, individual freedom, and civilized values.

We aspire to emulate America, not the dark system of Russia. And that fact deeply threatens Putin.

But we can only remain free with the help of our friends.

The help of America and other nations has produced immeasurable benefits, not just for Ukraine but the entire Western world.

Our defense forces have blocked the westward sweep of Russia's imperial ambitions.

We have already liberated half of the territory Russia has occupied since February last year.

Our counteroffensives have destroyed thousands of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery systems.

The Russian army has lost so many men it now must rely on mercenaries and prisoners who were released only to fight us.

We are succeeding. The Ukrainian defense forces have already secured several bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region.

Yet we are only too aware that we could not have launched and developed our counteroffensive without aid from the United States and others.

We will forever be grateful to the United States and its people for its unprecedented support.

When the invasion happened we faced off against the supposed mighty Russian military with a small batch of Javelins, portable anti-tank missiles, provided by the U.S.

Since then, our successes in repelling the Russians have unlocked a powerful flow of modern weaponry and equipment.

Today, we have Patriot air defense batteries, Abrams tanks, M777 howitzers and other advanced technological systems.

Indeed, our war provides a valuable possibility for America and our allies to learn from this war and improve weaponry and rapidly adapt to new modes of warfare in the future.

We have entered a new age of unmanned aerial vehicles – UAVs. The sky above Ukraine has turned into a virtual battlefield, with weapons controlled by combatants who are often distant from the actual fighting.

One relatively cheap Ukrainian UAV recently destroyed four Russian tanks in a single day.

We have virtually no navy, but in parts of the Black Sea our drones, missiles and other high-tech weapons have kept the Russian fleet at bay or even forced their retreat.

The knowledge that U.S. generals and civilian strategists are obtaining from the Ukrainian independence war may well prove vital to future U.S. security.

All this has convinced us that a closer alignment of NATO and Ukraine defense strategies would serve all of us well and deter our joint enemies.

Increased cooperation between Ukrainian and American defense industry companies is already helping to strengthen the U.S. military as stocks of old weapons and ammunition are replaced with newer and more modern materials.

Much of the aid provided by the U.S. goes directly to American defense contractors, providing new jobs for skilled U.S. workers.

We believe there is still plenty of potential for increased cooperation.

That is why, on Dec. 6 and 7, a two-day joint U.S.-Ukraine conference on mutual defense issues will take place in Washington, D.C.

The main goal is enhancing defense industries' cooperation for a substantial increase in weapon production in Ukraine, the U.S. and also in other NATO member countries.

Ukraine's priority is acquiring the equipment and ammunition we so badly need to fight.

But we must also look to the future.

One day Putin will be gone, but his Axis of Insanity could well remain with nations led by similar megalomaniacs holding visions of world domination.

If we act strongly together in defense of our democratic values now, we will deter these dark angels of insanity from imposing their way of life upon us.

Andriy Yermak advises Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and serves as Head of the Office of President.

[yermak]

This Is Why Ukraine Stands With Israel

The terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with Ukrainians. Rockets, torture and murder, the abduction of children – we know this script too well. But the similarity of our tragedies is not accidental.

by Andriy Yermak

Published on October 13, 2023

On September 29, I held a meeting with foreign ambassadors. We discussed one of the key points of President Zelenskyy’s 10-point Peace Formula – Justice. The day was also the 82nd anniversary of the beginning of the Shoah for Kyiv Jews.

We gathered in Babyn Yar, a place whose name has become synonymous with genocide. A suburban ravine in Kyiv, Babyn Yar played host to some of the worst genocidal atrocities of World War Two. Over two days in 1941, around 34,000 Ukrainian Jews were massacred by the Nazis there. In total, up to 150,000 eventually lost their lives there.

But genocide does not lurk in the past. As Israel knows only too well, it is a phenomenon the world must grapple with in the present day. In the first days of the Russian invasion, Babyn Yar was hit by missiles, killing an entire family near the memorial complex.

This horror is why the terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with pain in the hearts of Ukrainians. Not only because historically the destinies of our peoples have been closely intertwined. But also because in modern times we are forced to fight for the same basic rights: to be ourselves and live safely on our own land. As the legendary Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv, aptly noted, “We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”

This horror is why the terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with pain in the hearts of Ukrainians. Not only because historically the destinies of our peoples have been closely intertwined. But also because in modern times we are forced to fight for the same basic rights: to be ourselves and live safely on our own land. As the legendary Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv, aptly noted, “We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”

Thousands of rockets flying at peaceful cities. Torture and execution of peaceful people, looting, execution of prisoners and abduction of children – we know this script too well. Cruelty has no excuses. Terrorism has no nationality. Barbarism knows no borders. And that is why today Bucha in Ukraine mourns Re'im in Israel.

But all of us must understand: the similarity of their tragedies is not accidental.

They are parts of the same plan, elements of an asymmetric war waged against the free world by the “axis of evil.” Since this term was introduced by President George W. Bush, it has undergone a series of transformations. The main one was the emergence of a new leader - Putin's Russia. Restoring the status of a superpower has become a real symbol of the Kremlin. He is fixated on revenge for the Cold War, and he repeatedly refers to its practices.

In the modern world, in a world built on partnership and consensus of interests, Russia does not have competitive advantages. The only chance for them is to create a situation where the difference between peace and war becomes illusionary.

For decades, Moscow has formed a coalition of autocratic regimes, fringe movements and terrorist organizations which poses an ever-increasing threat to humanity.

In his Valdai speech on October 5, Vladimir Putin spoke about the diversity and multiplicity of civilizations. As always, he lied.

In the modern world, civilization exists only as the antithesis of barbarism. Civilization cannot be built on hatred. But it is hatred and contempt for life that cements the alliance of Russia, Iran, North Korea and their numerous proxies. Hate is the product that they seek to promote in all world markets. It seems incredible, but in the era of globalization, the main threat to humanity is an alliance of death cults that assert their right to sacrifice. However, they prefer to call it the “protection of national interests” and the “struggle against the West.”

Neither Russia nor its allies are in a position to offer the world a positive agenda. That is why they repeatedly resort to racketeer tactics: supporting violence, intimidation and blackmail, and then naming the price of its solution. The capitulation in the Crimean War of the nineteenth century did not prevent Emperor Alexander II from later instructing the cadets: “Russia is not a trading or agricultural state, but a military one, and its vocation is to be the awe of the world.” A century and a half later, Vladimir Putin and his associates want the same thing. And again, and again, they bet on terror.

From Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Latin America, from the Caucasus to the Sahel, the same scenario plays out, often with the same performers. The bloody trail of PMC Wagner, also known as the Wagner Group, stretched from Syria to Ukraine and Africa. Its mercenaries taught Hamas fighters to drop bombs from drones. Hacker groups linked to Russia hacked the websites of Israeli state institutions, and the Russian GRU transported weapons captured in Ukraine to Palestine.

The futility of Israel’s balancing act over Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine became obvious this week when Putin claimed the Hamas attacks on Israel were a result of failure to “take the core interests of the Palestinian people into account.” Trying to poke the bear never works when dealing with self-righteous imperial ambitions.

Russia’s recent moves across the wider Middle East region also provide food for thought. In 2015, intervening in the Syrian civil war helped the Kremlin divert the attention of the West from Russian aggression against Ukraine and attempts to freeze the conflict in Donbas amid the European refugee crisis. Having gained time and built strength, Russia then tried to capture all of Ukraine. Only the heroism of our people and the determined help of our allies made it possible to foil the aggressor’s plans.

Will the Kremlin try to engineer the same scenario of forcing the democratic community to appeasement by using the current attack on Israel? You can bet on it. As a puppet master, Moscow gladly plays the role of mediator. What will happen next? A friendship with a cannibal always ends with a festive dinner.

Robert Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice who was the leading American prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, built the charges against the Nazis on the idea of a state created for war. For reasons beyond Jackson's control, the concept was not developed at the time. But now it is relevant again. Confrontation is the raison d'être of both the current Russian regime and its minions.

This means one thing: only a convincing defeat of Russia will break the axis of evil. Only the joint efforts and determination of the international community can overcome terrorism. That's right: overcome. Negotiations with terrorists, regardless of the signs of statehood, are never the end of the war. It is always a pause, after which the terrorists come back stronger and better prepared.

Long-term and full-scale assistance to those who suffer from aggression and the inevitable punishment of its perpetrators, provided for by the Ukrainian Peace Formula, is the most reliable guarantee of world security.

Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

[yermak]

The seeds for Ukraine’s green transformation planted today

Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery pose a massive challenge to Kyiv’s government and the international community, but it is also an opportunity to build back better.

by Andriy Yermak and Heidi Hautala

Published on September 28, 2023

Russia’s brutal war of aggression has, alongside a tragic loss of lives and untold human suffering, caused massive damage to Ukraine’s natural environment and infrastructure, riddled the country with land mines and led to significant concerns over nuclear safety in the occupied regions. The war has left deep scars on Ukraine, and mending them will require unprecedented international efforts.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine made strides towards a cleaner and greener economy. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, and spurred on by the EU Association Agreement, successive governments worked to transform one of the most carbon-intensive countries in Europe: energy efficiency increased significantly, renewables gained ground, and new protected areas were added. The war brought this work to an abrupt halt.

While reconstruction and recovery pose a massive challenge to Ukraine and the international community, it is also an opportunity to build back better. The chance to transition Ukraine to a green, net-zero economy that is good for the people and the planet must be firmly seized. With the proper support, Ukraine can leapfrog green technologies, modernise its industries and ensure competitiveness in European and global markets. With a considerable untapped potential for renewable energy, Ukraine also has the potential to play a role as a significant European green energy hub and, in the long term, contribute to alleviating European concerns over energy security. 

Firm commitments to sustainable recovery are set in Ukraine’s National Recovery Plan and together with international partners in the Lugano Declaration. They should serve as the central tenets of all restoration planning. Though policies alone won’t make a difference on the ground for Ukraine and its people. Rigorous implementation is necessary. 

Good governance, transparency and accountability are critical to Ukraine’s successful green recovery. In this regard, the reforms aimed at strengthening national security and the ultimate eradication of oligarchic and corrupt influence shall be continued. Decentralising and empowering local authorities and enabling more public participation will also improve the decision-making process. Ukraine has already demonstrated an impressive capacity for digital innovation that can be harnessed to increase the transparency of recovery efforts.

A group appointed by President Zelenskyy, including senior Ukrainian officials and prominent international personalities, will help Ukraine map a green, net-zero recovery and push for robust international support.

The EU’s new €50 billion Ukraine Facility can set the tone on how international partners can best ground recovery efforts to the principles of sustainable development, good governance and transparency. The Facility aims to provide stable long-term funding for Ukraine’s reconstruction with an eye on EU accession. The EU has the benefit of drawing on the experiences of recent COVID-pandemic recovery programmes, for example, the Do No Significant Harm -principle that seeks to ensure recovery efforts align with environmental policies.

Impressive as it may be, even the proposed Ukraine Facility shrinks in the face of the challenge. In March, estimates from the World Bank put the current cost of reconstruction and recovery at nearly €400 billion. Still, this figure has increased since then and continues to grow each day the war rages on and the terrible human and environmental toll mounts. 

Private-sector financing must be mobilised alongside public investment to support Ukraine’s recovery. A similar sustainability, transparency, accountability and governance framework should apply to all financing forms. The private sector must not be allowed to privatise profits and socialise risks in reconstruction efforts. 

The policies and governance mechanisms put in place in the coming months by Ukraine’s international partners will determine, to a great extent, the success of Ukraine’s green transformation. The reconstruction of Ukraine should set a new gold standard in channelling public and private investment for a successful green recovery after a war.

Sustainable recovery and reconstruction can fully begin when peace is secured, but the groundwork is laid today. In this regard, President Zelenskyy’s 10-Point Peace Formula suggests a comprehensive approach to reaching just and lasting peace in Ukraine, particularly in terms of ecological safety.

A prosperous transformed Ukraine on a European path will be a repudiation of Vladimir Putin’s imperialist fantasies and a beacon of hope in the region.

Andriy Yermak is head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Heidi Hautala is a Vice-President of the European Parliament. They are members of the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine.

[yermak]

Russia is committing grave acts of ecocide in Ukraine – and the results will harm the whole world

By the war’s end, it will be too late to prevent the worst consequences of these terrible crimes. Global leaders must act now.

by Andriy Yermak and Margot Wallström

Published on August 16, 2023

Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who led the team that developed the world’s first nuclear weapons, quoted from ancient Hindu scriptures to illustrate his conflicting feelings about the forces his science unleashed: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” he said. In his later years, Oppenheimer longed for a future “without nation states armed for war, and above all, a world without war”.

Yet there’s another kind of loss that Oppenheimer recognised only too clearly in his readings of the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient text he turned to after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Humans now possess the power to destroy the world they live in. The people of Ukraine have grown cruelly familiar with war and death, inflicted on them by a nation state with vastly superior resources: they will never forget the human loss they have suffered in fighting to save their homeland. But Ukraine is also facing a destruction of habitat and nature on a scale that will reverberate far beyond its borders. While it is almost impossible to measure, the breadth and depth of this damage must be understood. Russia has taken deliberate aim at Ukraine’s environment: its rivers, forests and fields. Many of Ukraine’s natural reserves – its animal and sea life, water and impressive biodiversity – have been terribly damaged or polluted. Toxins leak from its damaged industries and infrastructure. Global food security is at risk. The world cannot afford to ignore this growing environmental threat. The overwhelming threat to Ukraine’s environment was highlighted in June, with the extraordinary collapse of the huge Nova Kakhovka dam, which held back one of the biggest water reservoirs in Europe. This was no coincidental collapse: the dam was under Russian control when an explosion inside an internal passageway blew its concrete heart to pieces. This unleashed a catastrophic flood that wrecked over 40 towns and villages and one of the world’s most valuable agricultural regions. Tonnes of oil were spilled into the Dnipro River. An uncountable number of landmines were strewn into the river and the Black Sea, leading to toxic leakage.

Today, we worry that an environmental disaster of even greater magnitude is looming at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The plant was seized by Russia last year and remains under its control. Ukrainian intelligence has accused Russian forces of mining the plant, either to destroy it before they are expelled, or to stage an incident they would try to pin on Ukraine. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Zaporizhzhia in June and described the situation as “extremely volatile”. Playing with explosives at a nuclear power plant risks environmental doom – for Ukraine and for all of Europe. Nuclear contamination does not stop at borders. Russia will face justice. Both the international criminal court and Ukraine’s prosecutor general are investigating these acts as war crimes. But under both Ukrainian and Russian law, some of these crimes qualify as ecocide – an apt term for these terrible times: “the mass destruction of flora and fauna, poisoning of air or water resources, and any other actions that may cause environmental disaster,” as defined in Ukrainian law. One day the war will end, and environmental safety is one of the key priorities to construct a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, as set out in President Zelenskiy’s peace plan. The president’s 10-point strategy placed emphasis on the protection of the natural environment. He has appointed a group, including senior Ukrainian officials and prominent international personalities, to push both Ukraine and the international community to be specific about how that can happen. Indeed, national security advisers of key global players discussed the path to peace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.

The reconstruction of Ukraine and its industries should be guided by green, net-zero objectives. Environmental reconstruction goals will need strong support from the international community. But urgent action is needed now. Measures to prevent further environmental catastrophe or mitigate damage should be prioritised – even during war. The people of Ukraine have become grimly accustomed to war, death, and destruction – but we must do all that is possible to prevent further environmental disaster, which may later have unpredictable consequences for the region, and the world. “It is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell,” Oppenheimer declared at the height of the cold war, but here in Kyiv, we have not given up hope. The world’s best chance of avoiding hell depends on the rest of us trying to do something to prevent it.

Andriy Yermak is head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Margot Wallström is a former foreign minister of Sweden. Together they co-chair the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War.

[yermak]

Remember Reagan's Words This Memorial Day

by Andriy Yermak

Published on May 29, 2023

Days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year, one of our nation's leading singers laid down his microphone and became a soldier.

Taras Topolia, the frontman of the band Antytila, signed up for the Territorial Defense and traveled to join war efforts in Irpin, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Borodyanka.

The singer, who has collaborated with Bono and Ed Sheeran, was not alone.

He was joined by directors of private health clinics who left their practices to lead medical units in frontline combat brigades.

Wedding photographers turning their hand to aerial photo reconnaissance. Bartenders training as field artillerymen.

He met a frontline commander who had previously featured on the Forbes magazine list of 100 richest Ukrainians.

Topolia says his new "dual life" is "not so easy, but we must do it."

"We are fathers and husbands," he added. "We have some dreams. We had some plans and the war changed everything."

Today, the United States marks Memorial Day with its annual remembrance of heroic U.S. service members who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting tyranny and defending freedom.

Ukraine, too, has reason to pause in gratitude and pride at the performance of its citizens in war.

Fifteen months ago, we were David facing Goliath.

When Vladimir Putin sent his tanks across our borders, many military analysts concluded that Ukraine would disintegrate.

We would have to learn to fight a hit-and-run insurgency, picking our targets and moments carefully, harassing the invaders until – perhaps years or decades later – they wearied of our resistance and departed.

Yet today it is the once-mighty Russian military machine that is in a state of disintegration.

The wreckage of its failed onslaught is scattered across eastern Ukraine.

Putin's mercenaries are publicly cursing his generals.

His own Kremlin spokesman has declared the war "very difficult."

How did this extraordinary turnabout unfold, and what does it mean for America and the rest of the world?

In Ukraine, we are all soldiers now, united by a passion to save our country and a determination to resist a megalomaniac. That unity and conviction has produced a powerful and very beautiful phenomenon.

Long before last year's invasion, Ukraine had begun to realize how different it is from Putin's Russia.

We look forward, they look back. We are committed to democracy, diversity, and freedom of expression.

We consider ourselves part of Europe, not Russia.

Yet Putin seeks to recreate the old Soviet colonial model. He hungers after lost lands. He locks up those who challenge him.

When Russia invaded and illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula almost a decade ago, it provided the clearest of signals to Ukraine that our borders elsewhere were vulnerable.

Our armed forces began a rapid process of modernization and integration with NATO-standard training and equipment.

We prepared a 10-year-plan upgrading weapon systems, developing elite special forces, and adopting advanced technologies.

In 2019, we began to procure ample stocks of the Turkish-produced Bayraktar TB2 armed drones that played such a key role in our early resistance last year.

By February 2022 we were not the Ukraine that Putin imagined would be a pushover.

We had become flexible, resourceful and adaptive – everything the Kremlin is not.

When, in the wake of the Russian invasion, our army's professional ranks grew by tens of thousands of civilian volunteers, the newcomers were quickly integrated.

They brought new skills, knowledge, and motivation to our increasingly effective resistance.

In Kyiv, we are grateful for the support of America and our European allies. We have drawn on the extraordinary moral support that countless Americans and other peoples around the world have expressed for our fight to save our homeland.

Where does this leave us today?

Putin's grip on power – and his readiness to crush dissent – has led to concern among some of our allies that a dangerous stalemate looms; that the war has become too expensive; that it would somehow be better for America, NATO, and the West if Ukraine was obliged to negotiate.

Be under no illusion that this war is about much more than Russia versus Ukraine. It is about defending the shared values that U.S. service members have fought for since the days of the Founding Fathers.

If Putin is rewarded in any shape or form for the atrocities he has committed in illegally invading Ukraine, what message does that send to tyrants and terrorists around the world?

That the West is weak, and that aggression will ultimately pay?

Putin has already joined forces with one of America's most dangerous enemies to further his aims in Ukraine.

He has strengthened Russia's alliance with Iran, purchasing hundreds of Iranian-made kamikaze drones.

How will he repay the ayatollahs? With the nuclear technology they crave? What does that mean for Middle East peace?

There is only one way that the war in Ukraine should end, and that is with Putin's defeat.

On this Memorial Day, we remember the words of late U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who faced an earlier incarnation of Kremlin aggression.

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War," Reagan often declared. "We win, and they lose."

In the early 1990s, American leadership changed the world.

With American power behind Ukraine today, the world can be certain that we will win and Putin will lose.

Andriy Yermak advises Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and serves as Head of the Office of President.

[yermak]

Italy is defending common European values in Ukraine

by Andriy Yermak

Published on May 13, 2023

Thirty years ago, I was a young Ukrainian lawyer who visited Italy for the first time and fell in love. A lifelong passion was born for the songs of Mina and Celentano, the films of Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Sorrentino, dishes like risotto alla milanese and cannoli siciliani, the Italian people, and the many cities of breath-taking beauty with glorious history speaking from every stone. Anything “Made in Italy” was a treasure beyond price for someone who had grown up in the Soviet Union.

In time, I became a consultant to the Italy-Ukraine Association and an adviser to many Italian conglomerates interested in business with Ukraine. Today, I have never felt closer to my Italian friends. Italy reminds me very much of my motherland. Like Italian, the Ukrainian language is one of the most melodious in the world; similar to Italians, for Ukrainians family is the biggest treasure; even Italy’s Accona Desert reminds me of Oleshky Sands, a desert in southern Ukraine that is currently under Russian occupation.

I live a different life now. As head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, I assist in fighting the invader. We have experienced great hardship and sorrow since Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked assault on Ukraine last year. But there have also been moments of joy as our friends have rallied to help us.

It is hard to adequately describe the sustained effects of missiles exploding across my homeland. This war completely changed our lives. Just imagine walking to your office and seeing the cafe where you used to drink coffee every morning destroyed by a missile. Young men and women giving their lives to fight back criminal conquerors, many of whom are mercenaries caring nothing for international law or human decency. By now, most of us are aware of the horrors that have accompanied Putin’s aggression; the bombing of civilian targets, the massacres of Ukrainians, the theft of our children.

We have lived with this war for over a year. Nobody wants it to end more than we do. We quite understand that some of our friends should worry about the lack of progress towards a clear conclusion. Yet we also live with questions that continue to haunt us. Should we simply give up our territory and abandon our responsibility for those who live there? Should we allow Putin any kind of reward for invading our country and slaughtering our citizens? How do we decide to erase a part of our national identity?

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni got it absolutely right back in February, upon seeing the Kyiv suburb of Bucha: helping us defend our country is about freedom and justice, about our common values. Anyone doubting it can visit the now safe Kyiv suburb, where the invaders murdered 400 residents in the early days of the all-out invasion, and see for themselves. Life is returning to Bucha, but death, too, is reluctant to leave, and one can see its traces everywhere.

Recently, Prime Minister Meloni laid out in the plainest of terms where responsibility for the conflict lies. “Do you think anyone likes war?” she asked. But negotiations on peace required certain conditions. She demanded answers from her critics: “We should or should not ask Russia to cease hostilities and withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory? Do you think we should review the borders of Ukraine, and how? Do you think that the occupied territories should be given to Moscow? That is what I would like to hear if we are seriously talking about peace. Otherwise, it’s just propaganda at the expense of a sovereign nation, of free people, and international law. And that’s irresponsible.”

To hear an Italian Prime Minister declare her support in such forthright terms is just as important as the efforts that Italy makes not only to help Ukraine win this war, but also to rebuild our country.

In April, I had a fruitful and warm conversation with my friend Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister of Enterprise and Production. We talked about how Italy can help in supporting the promotion of Ukrainian manufacturers on the European market. Adolfo assured us of Italy’s support. We are proud of our business and believe that soon “Made in Ukraine” will sound as proud and eloquent as “Made in Italy.”

On April 26, a bilateral Ukrainian Reconstruction Conference was held in Rome with the participation of the prime ministers of the two countries together with 600 Italian and 150 Ukrainian companies. We are grateful to Italy for its incredible support in weapons, in words, and in deeds.

The Italian business community in Ukraine has always been a success story, from furniture and fashion to engineering and consulting. And now it can become even more so. We need not just to reconstruct, but to build back better. And the Italian spirit of entrepreneurship could find a beneficial way to help us recover. Having once visited Ukraine, my numerous Italian friends felt and still feel at home in our country. No doubt, numerous Italian companies will follow suit and come to stay as partners.

We believe that soon we will be even closer to Italy, in one big family, as full-fledged members of the European Union and NATO. The Ukrainian people realize that only Ukraine’s membership in NATO will prevent a recurrence of this terrible war, and we believe that our Italian friends will support us here as well, just as they did when promoting Ukraine’s EU candidacy. Before Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, Italy, like our other partners, could become a guarantor of Ukraine’s security so that long-lasting peace prevails in Eastern Europe.

When I fell in love with Italy all those years ago, I had little idea how much Ukraine would one day be grateful to your country or how close and familiar our nations would become. It is brave of the Italian people and government to support our cause so unequivocally. For that, I can only say “Grazie mille cari amici!”

Andriy Yermak is the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President. An Italian-language version of this article was originally published in Corriere della Sera.

[yermak]

Central Asia crucial in Ukraine’s imperial chimera battle

There is much more in common between Ukraine and the states of Central Asia than it seems. As Kyiv is fighting the imperial chimera, staying away is not an option for Central Asia.

by Andriy Yermak

Published on April 24, 2023

Russian aggression against Ukraine did not simply break the rule-based world order established after World War II. The invasion became another step in an attempt to get international relations back to the 19th century, to the times of the Vienna system, when Russia employed the right of conquest to become the leading "conductor" of the "Concert of Europe" and successfully played the "great game" in Central Asia.

The north-south dividing line passing through the northern Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and abutting the Altai, remains critical to the implementation of the Kremlin's plans even now. Strictly speaking, it has been a pillar of Russian imperial policy. However, for the nations that resumed their independent state-building after the Soviet Union dismantling, Russia lost its appeal as a regional center of gravity. Not least because it failed – did not try, actually – to offer its neighbors any integration project that would provide for an equal partnership and prevent Russia from gaining the position of the primary, or even the only beneficiary. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) – all these formats of multilateral cooperation in their current form are aimed at preserving this exclusivity.

However, for the Central Asian states, historically, multi-vectoring is a natural way of communicating with the outside world. Ukraine also aspired to be a multi-vector – until Russia's imperial swagger forced it to make a final choice.

Not only Ukrainians face Moscow's territorial claims as revenge for the lack of piety towards its ambitions. Both the former and the latter are known perfectly well to our friends in Kazakhstan. Both Ukrainians and Uzbeks experienced gas blackmail in dead of winter. Besides Kyiv, Bishkek is perfectly aware of the bad odds to get the Kremlin's proteges extradited and tried. In both Dushanbe and Ukrainian Crimea, they know what a powerful tool of pressure the Russian military base may be.

On top of that, I believe both a stud farmer in the Ashgabat area and the Bucha equestrian club owner agree on the kind of punishment that racehorse murderers deserve. Meanwhile, a joke about Moscow's habit of burying the logistics and energy transport projects created without Russia does not need to be explained to anyone living anywhere along the ancient Silk Road. And commonly understood is sarcasm toward "protecting the Russian-speaking population."

There is much more in common between Ukraine and the states of Central Asia than it seems. Of course, we are not talking about gastronomic sympathies for manti, shawarma, borscht and dumplings. Yurts of invincibility in Ukrainian cities are a reminder of the joint liberation struggle after the collapse of the Romanov empire, of joint pain from the Holodomor in the fertile steppes of the West and East, and of the desire to protect one's way of life. Ukrainians highly appreciate this help. Special thanks for voting on Ukrainian resolutions at the U.N. We realize that in certain circumstances even "abstaining" is a manifestation of courage, not to mention a systematic voice "pro."

'Russian peace' with guns

I know that information about events in Ukraine often reaches the states in the region with huge distortions due to the overwhelming Russian presence in their information field. Sometimes it is not easy to understand what is happening. But there is a way out: Watch the Soviet "White Sun of the Desert" movie again. Ask yourself how the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov was brought from Samara to Turkestan. What was he doing there? The answer is on the surface: He was doing perfectly the same thing as Alexander Sukhov from Tver, who was killed in Ukraine last year. He brought us "Russian peace" with weapons in his hands. Simply put, he was a conqueror, not a liberator.

What is happening in Ukraine is not a proxy conflict between Moscow and Washington, as presented by Russian propaganda. We are the people, not proxies. Everything is simple in this war: There is an aggressor and there is a victim of aggression. The victim has the right to defend himself in all ways available. In particular, seeking support abroad. But we would not need it if Russia were not obsessed with "greatness." In the modern world, greatness is measured by the level of medicine, the quality of education and cutting-edge technologies, and not by conquests. However, people from the past cannot comprehend this benchmark.

Russia has not been able to impose its will on us either in nine years of creeping aggression or in more than a year of the all-out invasion. Moreover, being unable to win a decisive victory on the battlefield and being subject to increasing sanctions pressure, Russia is getting weaker. It feels like the growing imperial overstretch. In fact, it has already irrevocably lost its place in the superpowers league.

It means that further degradation of the international security system is imminent. In particular, in Central Asia. Moscow consistently interferes with integration processes within the region to retain its decadeslong role of arbiter. This is nothing but a continuation of the imperial practice of drawing borders without taking ethnic maps into account.

Moscow has established close relations with the Afghan Taliban, despite the fact that Russia designates it as a terrorist organization. Today, many are inclined to consider such convergence as a stabilizing factor. But what will happen next? Given the long history of the Kremlin's use of radical movements, the question is easy to answer. Trying to build a "cheaper" empire, President Vladimir Putin-era Russia repeatedly resorts to the racketeering strategy: The Kremlin tends to create a problem, and then offers its (by default – non-alternative and very expensive) services to solve it.

Kyiv fighting for restoration

Ukraine is fighting for the restoration of a world living by the rules. We strive to build an international relations system ensuring safety for all and not just the premier geopolitical league members. We aspire to a reliable peace where the right to determine one's future is guaranteed by effective security mechanisms, and the aggressor is certainly punished. A comprehensive sanctions policy against Russia and those who, for reasons of financial or political gain, help it circumvent restrictions is one of the elements of this system. Justice needs protection, and we thank all the countries, including those of Central Asia, that block the terror state's attempts to restore its military strength undermined in Ukraine.

Russia is finally discrediting itself as a mediator between East and West. Instead, Ukraine has every chance to be at global crossroads – both as a key element of Eurasian security and as a transit state. Given the scale of destruction caused by the Russian barbarians – as the world's largest construction site, we are open to offers.

Russians are so fond of German historian Karl Hampe's saying, "History knows no 'if,'" that they attribute the quote to Joseph Stalin with their usual contempt for intellectual property rights. But hardly anywhere else in the modern world this aphorism is tried to be refuted more than in Russia itself. During Putin's "reign," alternative history became both the most popular literary genre and a leading imperative in politics. The Kremlin's logic is not to restore the empire's long-lost glory, might and greatness, but to create the empire's image in modernity.

Ukraine's logic is that this aggressive chimera can only be opposed by truth, a real partnership and dialogue on equal terms, based on mutual respect of cultures and sovereign states. We offer an open platform to reform international relations, and we would appreciate the Central Asian countries joining the sponsors of a new, fairer and safer world order for the common good.

Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

[yermak]

Fighting the Kremlin of today

We Ukrainians can only return to our lives in sunshine with the help of our friends all over the world

by Andriy Yermak

Published on April 12, 2023

Some of India’s greatest literature reached Ukraine in an unusual way. In the late 19th century, a young woman named Larysa Kosach received a present from her uncle, a well-known Ukrainian intellectual. It was a French translation of the Rigveda, among the most sacred of Hindu texts. Kosach, a brilliant poet fluent in 10 languages, was so impressed with the beauty of its verses that she was determined to share them with her fellow Ukrainians. She was the first person to translate the Rigveda into our language and went on to become one of my country’s most celebrated poets. She has since become known as Lesya Ukrainka and her Rigveda translation is still read today in Ukrainian schools.

Now, it is our turn to send India some poetry. These are very difficult days for Ukraine, but the creative forces that set us apart from those who would destroy us have not been extinguished. As Russian missiles bomb our cities and Russian soldiers steal our children, a new generation of Ukrainian voices are speaking up in search of sympathetic ears. As Iya Kiva, one of our younger poets, puts it: “We’ve packed a contraband humanitarian aid kit of war songs/ and shipped it to Europe America India and China/ paving the silk road with great Ukrainian literature.”

Victims of Russian belligerence

In Ukraine we are no strangers to the harsh realities of modern geopolitics. We know, of course, that we cannot rely on poetry alone to deliver us from the clutches of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose lust for territory and power is out of step with the 21st century longing for peaceful, prosperous co-existence. We also know that some of the countries with which Ukraine has long enjoyed mutually rewarding relations — not only in recent years but both before and during the ages of Soviet rule — face testing decisions of their own in a world that Russia is trying to reshape for the benefit of the Kremlin’s kleptocrats. We are especially grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his skilful interventions at the highest political levels. We recognise that India has long enjoyed a stable and productive relationship with Moscow. But the Kremlin of today is not the Kremlin of yesterday. As the prime victims of Russian belligerence, we wholeheartedly endorse what Mr. Modi told Mr. Putin last year: “Today’s era is not an era of war”.

At the same time, we worry that those words have fallen on deaf Russian ears. As I write today, Russian armies are still firing missiles into civilian Ukrainian homes. The destruction has included hospitals, schools and blocks of flats. Independent observers have detailed massacres, torture and rape committed by Russian soldiers, many of them former convicts pressed into military service. In Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian troops, local government officials, journalists and protestors have been arbitrarily detained and beaten or tortured. Some of them have disappeared.

The United Nations has documented more than 40,000 alleged Russian war crimes. Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Mr. Putin and one of his officials for allegedly presiding over the horrifying deportation of hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia. Mr. Putin to issue shocking threats of nuclear attack.

These are not the actions of a reliable partner, or indeed of any sane government leader. With his unceasing aggression in Ukraine, Mr. Putin has forfeited any claim to the loyalty of his former friends. Desperate in defeat, he has been trawling the world in search of any ally prepared to overlook his evil. He had high hopes of forging a political and economic alliance with China against the rest of the world, but he left Beijing disappointed. For all the flowery words that accompanied his recent summit meeting with President Xi Jinping, most observers concluded that China was keeping its distance from a tyrant who no one can trust.

Similar views

We are lucky to enjoy warm diplomatic relations with India, and I think I am right to claim that our views are similar in two important respects. First, we did not seek war with Russia; like India, we only fight if we are attacked. Second, we share India’s belief that a rebalancing of international institutions is long overdue in the world.

Russia has discredited itself as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, undermining global faith in an outmoded structure. The Council was created in the aftermath of the Second World War with a mission to maintain world peace — a task it has manifestly failed to achieve. However long it takes to rid the world of Russia’s malevolent excesses, Mr. Modi’s campaign for UN reform deserves to succeed.

Ukraine also wholeheartedly endorses Mr. Modi’s theme for India’s current presidency of the G20: ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed this message when he revealed our formula for peace at the G20 summit last year. The plan involves simple but necessary steps which are familiar to every human being who respects themselves, other people, and the world around them. Those who oppose the plan also oppose energy, food, nuclear and environmental security.

At difficult times like this, it is helpful to remember one of the Rigveda verses translated by Lesya Ukrainka. It was a hymn dedicated to Indra, king of the devas, who destroyed the evil Vritra, bringing sunshine to mankind. In Ukraine, we too are fighting evil. But we can only return to our lives in sunshine with the help of our friends all over the world.

Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

[yermak]

Through fury and grief, remembering Bucha

Russia may have scarred Ukrainian souls, but Putin has not broken our will

by Andriy Yermak

Published on April 1, 2023

Even in war, it should be possible to look forward to spring.

It’s a time for blossoming hope, for relief from the winter darkness. Yet here in Ukraine, the arrival of spring carries an inescapable burden of fury and grief.

It was early April last year when a valiant Ukrainian counteroffensive forced the retreat of Russia’s troops from the city of Bucha, on the northwestern outskirts of Kyiv. What we discovered there after a month of Russian military occupation, we will never be able to forget.

Bucha is no longer a quiet Ukrainian suburb, known for its charming neo-Gothic railway station. To speak of Bucha today is to recoil from the horror of its massacres. It has become the 21st-century equivalent of World War II’s Oradour and Katyn Forest, or the Balkan War’s Srebrenica.

Under Russia’s control, this city became an inferno of torture, mass murder and unfathomable depravity. And through the efforts of international investigators, we are still learning the full extent of the atrocities inflicted there.

Our sorrow in the face of our losses — and the despicable, unbearable nature of those losses — is matched only by our shock and alarm that Moscow remains largely unpunished for its actions, which we believe did not just harm Ukrainians but constituted crimes against humanity.

It is hard to know where to start in the awful catalogue of horrors perpetrated in Bucha. The Ukrainian government is used to the Kremlin dismissing its allegations as malicious or false or biased. Yet, much of what we know about Bucha derives from independent reporting by internationally respected media — the BBC, the Guardian, the Economist, Associated Press (AP), Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Wall Street Journal.

Over the past few months, we have learned of Mykhailo Hrabovliak, a 52-year-old who lived in the neighboring town of Hostomel, and decided to flee toward Bucha with his family as the first Russian tanks approached. He made it as far as Yablunska Street in Bucha when Russian soldiers opened fire on his car, killing him and wounding his 9-year-old daughter, Sasha. Her arm was later amputated.

We have also learned of paratroopers from Russia’s 234thRegiment moving house to house in search of men of fighting age as part of an operation they called “zachistka” — cleansing. From CCTV footage, cell phone videos and intercepted military radio transmissions, the New York Times pieced together incontrovertible evidence of the arrests, and later executions, of at least nine civilians shot in the courtyard of a building occupied by Russian commanders.

One of the victims was Dmytro Chaplyhin, described as “a baby-faced store clerk everyone called Dima.” Russian soldiers found pictures of their tanks on Dima’s cell phone and accused him of helping the Ukrainian military.

AP estimates that up to 40 Bucha civilians were murdered on Yablunska Street alone.

In all, city officials eventually said over 450 bodies of civilians were recovered from the town, including nine children. Evidence was also found of a torture center at a local campground, where at least 18 mutilated bodies lay in a basement used as an “execution cellar.” Witnesses spoke of corpses with ears cut off and missing teeth. All this, with countless reports of rape, looting and random violence.

As the true nature of the Russian occupation was exposed, it was a relief that so many governments and international organizations expressed their shock and their support for Ukraine’s fight; that so many leaders around the world swiftly dismissed Russia’s attempts to pretend Ukraine had somehow “staged” the Bucha tragedy for propaganda purposes. These were real people who died horrible deaths at the hands of Russian brutes.

Yet, here we are, one year later, and Russia continues to inflict devastation on Ukraine, while achieving no discernible military gains. Russian President Vladimir Putin sneers at the attempts to help us, and vows to continue whatever the cost. His mercenaries are now advertising for fresh recruits to shed their blood on his behalf, and he warns the war may never end.

Do we really think this expansionist menace would dissolve at our borders? Who would Moscow then target next? Or should we fight on, to save not only our homeland, our culture, our children, but also to show all tyrants that aggression will not be rewarded?

Undoubtedly, we will fight on. We will continue to need weapons and ammunition, and we are infinitely grateful to our friends who have helped us replenish our stocks. We also need tighter sanctions to intensify pressure on Russia’s elite. The Kremlin’s kleptocrats yearn to be part of the civilized world, but the only place in civilization for them should be prison.

What we need most, though, is for the world to recognize that Russia is ruled by criminals. There should be no place at international tables for those who seek to profit from the mass murder of civilians. And the ghosts of Bucha will haunt the corridors of the United Nations, where Russia’s continued status as a permanent member of the Security Council makes a mockery of the organization’s name and purpose.

There is no security in pandering to the Kremlin. Russia may have scarred Ukrainian souls in Bucha, but Putin has not broken our will.

Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

[yermak]

When Putin’s propagandists are partying at the Grammys, it’s time for tougher sanctions

Russian pop stars may not be political titans, but the world must not allow the Kremlin to wriggle through any loopholes

by Andriy Yermak

Published on February 22, 2023

Earlier this month, media from across the globe were training their cameras on the Grammy awards to catch a glimpse of Beyoncé, Adele and Sam Smith. But for the people of Ukraine, the pleasure of watching the cream of music talent perform the biggest hits of the year was spoiled by the presence of Philipp Kirkorov, a Russian pop star often described as “Putin’s favourite singer”.

In Kyiv, we know Kirkorov well. In June 2021 we designated him as “a threat to Ukraine’s national security” and he was banned from entering our country after he spoke in support of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Last month, we added him to our list of Russian propagandists who are subject to personal sanctions for their support of Russia’s warmongering. He had reportedly been asking his audiences to stand up and clap for the “heroes”, Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

Now, here was Kirkorov preening openly at the Grammys, posting selfie videos on social media. A few days earlier he had dinner with Engelbert Humperdinck in Los Angeles and visited Las Vegas to watch an Adele concert. How could such a man be freely wandering the US? How is he able to party at a time when so many Ukrainians are fighting for their lives?

Sadly, Kirkorov is no isolated case. On the first day of Paris fashion week last month, Dior was criticised for inviting Yana Rudkovskaya, a Russian TV presenter and influencer who we also sanctioned over ties to the Kremlin.

We have long believed that a key weapon in the fight against Kremlin aggression is an international sanctions regime that weakens the Russian economy, reduces its military potency and targets the gang of criminals who run their country.

We are grateful to the international community for the sanctions they have already imposed. But sanctions can only be effective if they close loopholes, deny exceptions and block gaps. Russia is desperately looking for ways to escape its isolation. Every success, however minor, is seen by the Kremlin as a victory.

Of course, pop stars and influencers are not political or military titans. But they do represent a broader problem of both constructing and maintaining a sanctions regime that applies lasting pressure on the Kremlin. We have had great success so far in stretching the Russian budget, which is running a huge deficit. But the Kremlin works ceaselessly to dodge our restrictions. It has already found a replacement for western cargo shipping and insurers, is building new supply routes through Asia and Africa, and we believe may even be resorting to mineral and diamond smuggling to raise new funds. If the sanctions regime has holes, Russia will be sure to wriggle through them.

We believe that the current sanctions coalition has proved effective, but we also believe it is capable of more. The anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine falls on 24 February, and we are happy that the EU will mark it with a new sanctions package, which we hope will cover some of the most worrying gaps.

Perhaps the most urgent of those concerns is Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy provider, which has long been active in EU markets. We have reason to believe that Rosatom may be supplying components to the Russian arms industry. We believe it has also been party to the Kremlin’s reckless and inexcusable strikes on Ukrainian nuclear facilities. Yet no punitive measures have been applied to Rosatom. Another urgent financial priority should be the banishment of Russian banks from the Swift international payment system.

We would also like to see a tougher approach to the barbarians who cheer on Russian atrocities from comfortable boltholes in Europe and elsewhere. Russian propagandists aid the aggressor. They are complicit in the crimes of the regime.

We note that Russian individuals who have found themselves sanctioned are increasingly trying to challenge those sanctions in court. Those who despise democracy are once again trying to turn its strength into weakness. The fact that they and their loved ones enjoy the benefits of the European rule of law while fanning hatred for its values is the real injustice.

The EU’s visa policy for Russians should be as strict as possible. Kremlin propagandists and families of military personnel fighting in Ukraine should not be allowed to stay in the EU. Their visas should be cancelled, if necessary.

This war is not only for the future of Ukraine. It is a war for civilised values and ideas. The aggressor needs to understand that he can never win. Appropriately, one could take the lyrics of Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning song to sum up Ukraine’s defiant message to Russia “You won’t break my soul, you won’t.”

Andriy Yermak is head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

[yermak]

Time for Ukraine to Join NATO

by Andriy Yermek

Published on February 14, 2023

In April 2008, then-U.S. president George W. Bush tried to persuade Europe that Ukraine should be granted NATO membership. At a candid late-night dinner in Bucharest, Romania, Bush told European leaders that he feared the Ukrainian people would "lose faith" in the West if they were not admitted to the security alliance.

The impassioned plea led to the meal running two hours over schedule. An hour and a half after it was supposed to end, first lady Laura Bush left with the other spouses.

Yet Bush's efforts were in vain. As ever, too many other Western leaders around the table worried about "provoking" Russia, prioritizing appeasement above more noble concepts such as self-determination and international security.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently posed the question: Where have such policies led us? Answer: to the most serious conflict in Europe since the Second World War, to mass murder, systematic rape, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and enduring damage to the global economy.

When will my Western friends learn the lessons of history?

NATO was created in 1949 against the backdrop of the Soviet Union's nuclear testing program at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. Spanning four decades and exposing an estimated 1.5 million people to nuclear radiation, the Soviet Union's grandstanding fueled an arms race that continues to rage today.

The shape of the power struggle has shifted, but the issues at its heart remain unchanged.

Following its illegal invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia blocked the adoption of a United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Russia objected to a draft text, citing "grave concern" over its disgraceful recent activities around Ukraine's nuclear power plants.

Some European capitals need to recognize that the insanity of the Russian armed forces has the potential to threaten the very existence of several countries on their own continent. There is no point negotiating with such evil.

Over the past 20 years, the Kremlin has attempted to create the specter of Russia as a great power, rising once more from the ruins of the Soviet Union. Thankfully, the bravery of the Ukrainian forces has exposed this nonsense as a modern-day Potemkin village.

When Russia invaded, a battle for Ukraine's soul raged in and around Kyiv between February and April. Vladimir Putin's forces expected to gain control of our capital city within days — an outcome many of our allies also feared. They were not prepared for the ferocity of our resistance and the fortitude of our people.

Russia's retreat from Kyiv marked the beginning of its crumbling offensive. While the smoke and mirrors of the Kremlin's military might dissipated and cracked, Ukrainian forces took back ravaged communities in Kharkiv.

In October, the destruction of the Crimean Bridge obliterated much more than a vital supply line to Kremlin troops. It exposed the fault lines and folly of Putin's rash aggression toward Ukraine and dealt a fatal blow to decades of Russian posturing.

And at the end of the year, the recapture of the stolen city of Kherson was heralded by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "the beginning of the end of the war." These were moments of glory and pride for those who have given so much for our country and who have suffered unimaginable horrors at the hands of Russian war criminals.

Ukraine has proven itself on the battlefield — an issue that was often held against us as a reason for keeping us out of NATO.

Another factor often cited is our need for internal political and military reforms and guarantees of civil liberties. Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves once likened the process of joining NATO to "a big stick rather than a big carrot" as it "forces nations to reform even when they don't want to."

Yet President Zelenskyy already has shown a willingness to confront difficult home truths. Recent weeks have shown his administration is prepared to target those who have scandalously used Putin's illegal war as an opportunity to feather their own nest, even as their compatriots die defending their homeland. Some of those arrested may have previously regarded themselves as "untouchable." The president has told Ukrainians that "there will be no return to the way things used to be."

The Kremlin's misjudgment in attacking Ukraine has betrayed its weaknesses. It has damaged its own standing in the eyes of global allies and undone its reputation as the world's second-strongest military power. Conversely, Ukraine's defiance and fightback — aided by our allies — has bolstered the resolve and strength of NATO. Our country is defeating Russia in the battle for the global mind, destroying a narrative that has endured since the Second World War.

President Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan announced last month will, with the backing of our friends, help not only to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders, but thwart future attempts at such aggression.

It includes the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine; the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity; the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes; Western security guarantees for Ukraine; guarantees of food security, including support for Ukraine's grain exports to the world's poorest nations; and guarantees on radiation and nuclear safety around Zaporizhzhia, which remains a battleground.

Ukraine's fightback against the odds and determination to drive out corruption has turned global politics on its head. Our country has not only earned its place among NATO allies, it has dismantled the myths that prevented us taking our seat at the table in the first place.

Andrii Yermak is the chief of staff to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.