President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the NATO summit in Madrid via video link. He once again asked the members of the Alliance to give more weapons to Ukraine, which has been resisting Russian aggression for four months. We have selected the most important quotes from his speech.
Only now at this summit you will define Russia as your main threat, and for them you have been an enemy for a very long time. And the ideology of Russia is built on this, this is reflected one hundred percent in its propaganda, this is its task – to break you, to put pressure on you. And he is surprised that propagandists and Russian television are working in some of your states! It's not about free speech. This is a specific preparation for a war against you, and within your countries.
The Russian army is doing everything so that as many people as possible leave their cities. Nothing but ruins. And then the so-called second army of the world enters these cities – already empty and dead. And she does not want to stop in the Donbass or somewhere in the south of Ukraine, she wants to swallow up everyone in our country, city after city, and then everyone in Europe. All those whom the leadership of Russia considers their property, and not independent states. This is the true goal of Russia.
Question: who is next for her? Moldova? Or the Baltic countries? Or Poland? Answer: all of them.
The Russian leadership publicly stated that they were taught the rules of life by the Leningrad gates. There, any attempts at dialogue and appeasement are perceived only as weakness and fear. You can't call anyone there to talk when you need to hit back. Either you hit or you lose. This is how the Russian state sees the world now.
Ukraine needs modern anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense – and you have these systems. By providing them to us, you can completely break the tactics of Russia to destroy cities and terror against the civilian population of Ukraine. This is a fundamental thing. The distance from Kyiv to Madrid is less than the range of those missiles that are being used today against us. How can one state respond to such a threat without the help of partners? You can provide this help. And we are grateful for the help you have already provided.
The war must not drag on. To prevent this from happening, so that we break the Russian artillery advantage – an advantage at times, we need much more of these modern systems, modern artillery.
Financial support for Ukraine is no less important than arms assistance. Russia still receives billions every day and spends them on the war. We have a multibillion-dollar deficit, there is no oil and gas, thanks to which it would be possible to cover this. We need about $5 billion a month – you know that. And this is also fundamental. This is exactly what is needed for protection and protection.
And we need a new understanding of NATO's eastern flank. Getting rid of the “gray” zone, ensuring security is possible only together with Ukraine. Just think now, please, about one fact: today, a non-NATO member country, although with your support, has been holding back for more than four months now the state that you all officially define as the main threat to you. And we keep Russia from destroying us and from destroying you.
Russia needs to be isolated. It should not be in those international structures that it wants to destroy itself. There shouldn't be any dialogue that doesn't make sense until she starts looking for that dialogue herself. It must itself seek dialogue, and therefore seek peace. And for sure – for the sake of peace – the understanding of NATO's eastern flank must be reconsidered. Is it by chance that all the countries of the Alliance in the east, all our neighbors are in favor of Ukraine's membership in NATO? No, this is not an accident. This is logic. This is knowledge of life in our region.
NATO's open door policy should not resemble the old Kyiv metro turnstiles: they are open, and when you come in, the turnstiles close until you pay. Has Ukraine not yet paid enough? Is our contribution to the protection of both Europe and the whole civilization still insufficient? What else is needed then?
Now you are adopting the Alliance's strategy, and this is, first of all, the security strategy of your societies, your states. ten year strategy. Already 126 days of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Cruise missiles, torture, murder of children, rape of women… We don't have ten years. Do you have them? Are you sure about this?
Video «salute» in the bay of temporarily occupied Sevastopol. The footage was published by Ukrainian journalist, war correspondent Andrey Tsaplienko....
