Dear Ukrainians,
For the past 20 years, the United States has been a pillar of support for Ukrainians fighting for democracy! Freedom of speech, fair elections, a market economy, gender equality, a strong civil society – all of this was a demand of Ukrainians for a free and dignified life in their own independent country. We have nurtured these values together with our partners – and the United States has played a leading role in this.
This dialogue has never taken place through humiliation – and it is all the more bitter to see it when it suddenly manifested itself during the war. When instead of support and cooperation, we saw unprecedented depreciation – this is a blow to trust that requires efforts to restore balance in relations.
Today, Ukraine urgently needs leadership and unity. Not discussions about diplomatic protocol or suits, but political wisdom to find formulas for security guarantees, conditions for a just peace and preservation of the independence of our state. President Volodymyr Zelensky is a democratic leader who is doing an incredible job and uniting Ukraine’s international partners around the goals of peace and stopping the aggressor.
From the first day of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has been striving for peace – and it will come when the Russian army leaves our territories.
Forcing peace is a well-known Russian tactic that the Russians used in Georgia in 2008. The consequences of this are well-known and instructive. Russian propaganda is shaking the whole world today. When the Kremlin says that there is a dictatorship in Ukraine, it is political schizophrenia.
The answer to these challenges must be a strong coalition of international partners who support Ukraine’s victory. Together, we can make the aggressor’s plans impossible and make him pay for everything. This path has never been easy, but no amount of manipulation, psychological pressure, and humiliating devaluation of the Ukrainian people should distract us from the main thing: we know who started the war.
Ukraine needs broad international support in its confrontation with the aggressor. The armed forces need ammunition, munitions, training opportunities, and intelligence data. Our state has a great mission – what the world will be like in the 21st century depends on our victory.
We must do everything to ensure that peace is fair and that force does not become a way to divide the world into so-called spheres of influence, where dozens of countries will not have a voice.
Glory to Ukraine!
“Facebook”
Viktor Yushchenko
