Your Excellencies, Most Reverend Bishops,
As you all know, since the beginning of 2014 Ukraine has been subject to Russian military aggression. In spring 2014 Russia occupied Crimea, which was, is, and will be Ukrainian soil. Since that time, in the occupied Peninsular we see constant violation of political, language and cultural rights of citizens.
After the illegal annexation of the Crimea Russia started to wage its hybrid war in Eastern Ukraine. From the beginning of the conflict about 5,5 thousand innocent civilians have been killed. There are over 1 million displaced persons formally registered in Ukraine and another 600,000 have sought asylum or other forms of legal stay in neighbouring countries. One should separately mention the crash of MH17 flight as an outrageous act of terrorism, committed by the proxies of Russia.
No one should have any doubts that it is the Russian Federation that is responsible for all crimes of illegal armed formations in Donbas, carried out by Russian weapons and with participation of Russian citizens. I would like to believe that those responsible for all the massacres of civilians shall be brought to responsibility.
Since the Minsk agreement were signed on 5 and 19 of September 2014, signatures to which, besides Ukraine and the OSCE, were also affixed by an official representative of the Russian Federation, as well as of the separatists, Ukraine continuously demands their full implementation.
These agreements built upon a Peace Plan of the President of Ukraine on peace settlement of the situation in the Donbas, including all key elements that are necessary for immediate de-escalation of the situation, its stabilization and start of rehabilitation of the Donbas, namely: cease of fire, restoration of the Ukrainian control over the Ukrainian-Russian state border, full and immediate withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries, assurance of return to the touch line as of 19 September 2014, withdrawal of heavy weapons, release of hostages and illegally detained persons, improving the humanitarian situation in the region and conduct of the local elections under the Ukrainian legislation. Ukraine has been implementing the Minsk agreements in full manner and has been waiting for its fulfilment by Russia and militants in the course of long four months. Over the last months, the pro-Russian militants have been constantly assaulting the positions, where Ukrainian forces were positioning as well as shelling residential areas causing numerous civilian casualties.
On Febryary, the 12th the agreement on ceasefire, liberation of all hostages and illegally detained persons has been achieved following the meeting in Minsk in the Normandy format with participation of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of France Francois Hollande and President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Ukraine has once again demonstrated a responsible attitude to the fulfilment of undertaken international obligations. The arrangement on ensuring the ceasefire regime starting from February 15, 00:00 has been fulfilled, as stipulated in the documents adopted in Minsk.
The withdrawal of heavy weaponry after ensuring the unconditional, comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire with the assistance and monitoring of the OSCE and the support of the Trilateral Contact Group was to become the next step. Unfortunately, despite hopes for the responsible position of all the parties, which adopted the Declaration in support of the Complex of measures on the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, Russian Federation and the so-called "DPR" and "LPR", have not complied with and hope for peace is being virtually ruined. Instead, at the moment there are attempts to return everyone to war and escalation of the situation.
Militants controlled by Russia have declared the continuation of offensive operations flagrantly violating all the previous arrangements and the entire package of the Minsk agreements. They have also blocked the access of the OSCE monitoring mission to the battlefield.
Having used the truce and the beginning of the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, Russian-backed militants want to encircle Debaltseve and declare the continuation of the offensive operation in the future.
Ukraine seeks international support that Russia will finally be compelled to keep its promises, rein in its proxies and stop sending troops and weaponry into Ukraine. We demand Russia fully implement the Minsk agreements which it has thus far supported only in words, including the immediate withdrawal of all its armed forces from the territory of Ukraine, the stabilization of the Ukrainian-Russian border and the establishment of international monitoring. We expect that the crime, its perpetrators and those behind will be decisively condemned by the international community.
We call on the countries-participants of the Minsk negotiations – Germany, France, Russia – and the countries of the EU and NATO that virtually provided them with the mandate to represent the common position for the achievement of peaceful resolution of the conflict in Donbas, the escalation of which threatens not only territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but also security of Europe and the entire world, to make every possible effort to ensure the fulfillment of the Minsk plan based on the Minsk protocol of September 5, the Minsk memorandum of September 19 and the documents adopted on February 12 in Minsk. We address all the countries of the OSCE with a demand to express a decisive protest against the blockade of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's work. We also call on the permanent members of the UN Security Council to prevent further violation of fundamental principles and rules of the UN and the unleashing of a full-scale warfare in the very centre of Europe. A chance for peace must be used. It is only unity of the entire civilized world and solidarity with Ukraine that gives hope for the restoration of peace.
In conclusion, please allow me to urge you not to regard the events in Ukraine is local and distant problem, but an issue of European and international security. This concerns everyone. Let me cite a famous line by a line by John Donne, also used by Ernest Hemingway in his novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls“.
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
By the way, the same Hemingway called war “a rotten game” in his novel “A Farewell to Arms”. I call you to do everything in your powers to avoid it.
Your Excellencies, Most Reverend Bishops,
Thank you for you kind attention and I am very pleased to pass the floor to His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.