Volodymyr Groysman: It is Time to Adequately Respond and Stop the Aggressor

The international community should finally take clear and adequate steps to stop the Russian aggression, which poses a threat to the entire civilized world.

Volodymyr Groysman, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, stated this during the 11^th Kyiv Security Forum in Kyiv.

“Nowadays, the civilized democratic world, perhaps, still does not quite adequately respond to the threats we face. And the most dramatic country in the world today, where killings take place, is Ukraine. Today there will be many speeches from this tribune and many will talk about Russia – not as a country of the civilized world, but as the aggressor country, the murdering country, the country that violates international law, the country that neglects democratic principles. And today the key issue that needs to be addressed on all platforms – is the adequacy of the actions of the democratic world,” the Prime-Minister stressed.

Mr.Groysman noted that currently in the center of Europe, in Ukraine, one could see an invasion of a foreign army, an annexation of a part of the territory, and millions of people affected by the occupation.

He also cited the terrible statistics for the past year: there were over 22,000 terrorist attacks and shelling, of which more than 8,000 occurred in Syria and almost 4,000 in Donbas.

“The totalitarian Russian regime wants to change the world order. They want to force us, the whole civilized world to live according to their rules, namely, the non-existing rules. They want to spread panic and fear,” V.Groysman noted.

He added that sociological research in Russia showed that “the Russians because of the large-scale propaganda consider us, Europeans, enemies of their statehood”. “But I know for sure that no democratic country in the world was a threat or an initiator of aggressive actions against the Russian Federation,” the head of government said.

That is why, as V.Groysman emphasized, it is necessary to stop the enemy and to return it to the civilized world.

“I believe that our democratic world will win. I know for sure that undemocratic regimes had fallen. I believe that we have now moved to a completely new stage in leadership. And here the role of the United States should be stressed. The recent actions of the administration of President Donald Trump are the adequate actions that will force the aggressor to reckon with and to respect human rights, curb the aggression in relation to others ...” V.Groysman emphasized.

“It is time to open the eyes, do not cover them and do not turn them blind to the problems. The time has come for clear and high-quality actions that will stop the invasion of this aggression and enable us, the civilized world, to establish peace, and not only on the European continent, but further spread our values around the world,” he said.

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The annual international event Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 as a platform for high-level discussions on the current issues in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.

The event is being held with the support of NATO Information and Documentation Center in Ukraine, the German Marshall Fund, The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, The Royal Institute of International Relations, Chatham House (UK), and The Regional Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine.