The Chairperson of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Yegor Chernev: “My first, second and third points — we need weapons”
Yegor Chernev is the Chairperson of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He was a speaker of the third #UkrainianDialogue, which Aspen Institute Kyiv held with Aspen Institute France. Yegor said that Ukrainians have enough will and motivation to fight. At the same time, Ukraine has a substantial shortage of weapons.
Nazism has returned to Europe
Yegor said that the current Russian statements are similar to what Nazis stated during World War II. What we have seen since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, is nothing but genocide of the Ukrainian nation:
— After the pictures from Bucha, Hostomel, and other cities, we can all, unfortunately, see that Nazism has returned to Europe. According to the statements from Russian propagandists and politicians, we are forbidden to have our language, territory, history, and culture. We are also forbidden to exist.
Putin said that they want to re-establish a new world order
Unlike other former empires, Russia still has imperial ambitions. It was the only reason to push the ultimatum about NATO borders. Yegor highlighted that helping Ukraine now means protecting Western values and future peace:
— The ultimatum to return NATO to the 1997 borders was pushed just because Russia wanted to spread its influence on the former countries of the Warsaw Pact or the Russian Empire. I am not trying to scare anyone, but the next could be the Baltic States or Poland. We heard these statements from the Kremlin before the start of this war. Putin said, they want to re-establish a new world order where the Western World will not play such a prominent role. I do not doubt that the final goal of the Russian Federation is to destroy and occupy our country, then move forward.
My first, second, and third points — we need weapons
Yegor underlined the urgency of giving enough weapons to Ukraine and explained which type of weapons could help us first:
— My first, second and third points — we need weapons. We needed them for yesterday, from all over the world. We use a lot of Soviet-era weapons, and there is a shortage of artillery ammunition for it. Some countries from the former Warsaw Pact have that aforementioned ammunition.
Yehor finished his speech with the words originated by Winston Churchill to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941: “We will not fail or falter. We will not tire. Give us the tools, and we will finish our job”.
Aspen Institute Kyiv launched the #UkrainianDialogue project in cooperation with Aspen Network international partners. Its goal is to create a platform for leadership dialogue between Ukrainians who fight for democratic values and other countries’ representatives that support Ukraine.
