Arseniy Yatsenyuk During KSF Discussion: Russia has to Sit in the Hague Court, Not at the G-7 Meeting

"It is weird and unacceptable to have Russia sitting at the G-7 table. It is acceptable for Russia to sit in Hague Court, but not at the G-7 meeting," Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-16 stated during the KSF discussion on June 5.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk underlined that it is crystal clear who violated the international order: "It is absolutely clear that Russia illegally annexed Crimea and sent its proxies to Donetsk and Luhansk. No doubt that Russian proxies shut down MH-17. No doubt that Russian special agents tried to assassinate British citizens on United Kingdom territory in Salisbury. It is a very long story of Russian covert and overt operations against the West and against Ukraine."

"It is crystal clear who meddled into the U.S. elections - it’s Russian Federation. It is crystal clear who meddled into Brexit, into Dutch referendum, into German and French elections - Russian Federation," he emphasized.

Chairman of the KSF underlined that the Russian idea is for those who support Ukraine in the United States to keep silent: "Russia wants those who "buy" all the fake stories about Ukraine or Ukraine meddling into the U.S. elections to speak loudly."

"Russia wants to undermine our unity. They want to sell their own story," he emphasized.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that part of the Russian scenario is an attempt to accuse Ukraine of violating the Minsk agreements, to shift the blame to Ukraine, to blame the victim, not the aggressor.

It is a very challenging time for the American-Ukrainian bilateral relations: "The stronger we are, the stronger you are. And vice versa. This is the win-win situation for our countries. And Russia wants to have lose-lose situation for Ukraine and for the United States."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized that Ukraine and the USA will become even stronger after overcoming these challenges: "We have always counted and do count on your bipartisan support. The American people should always know that Ukraine and Ukrainians have a lot of respect for the United States, its people and its leaders."

The latest Kyiv Security Forum online discussion "Ukraine – United States: We Want to Be Heard” organized by Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

Participants of the discussion:

John Herbst, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine (2003-2006), director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; Celeste Wallander, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia/Eurasia on the National Security Council (2013-2017), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia (2009 to July 2012); Steven Pifer, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine (1998-2000), William J. Perry Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; William Taylor, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine (2006-2009), Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the United States Embassy in Ukraine (2019-2020), vice president at the United States Institute of Peace; Ivannna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Integration of Ukraine to the EU; Vitaly Portnikov, journalist, publicist; Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-16; Danylo Lubkivsky, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine and member of the Board of Open Ukraine Foundation moderated the discussion.