Russia’s criminal aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for almost a year, remains the most serious threat to international security and an unprecedented challenge to the international community since the Second World War.
This is stated in the joint statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, regarding the urgency of strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities
As noted, this war poses a particularly acute danger for the Euro-Atlantic community, in particular, in view of Russia’s undisguised goals to destroy the European security order and question the viability of democracy as a form of organizing social life.
By provoking the threat of a global food crisis and complicating international trade, the Russian aggression caused extremely serious consequences for many countries in Africa, Asia, and other continents.
“Russia has not changed its goals regarding Ukraine, which are the destruction of one of the largest states in Europe and the destruction of the 45 million Ukrainian people. Russia accompanies its aggression with numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity, including deliberate killings of civilians, mass rocket attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities, and targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure.
With its heroic resistance and successful liberation operations, Ukraine convincingly proved its ability to stop the aggressor state.
Thanks to the courage and endurance of the Ukrainian people, the heroism and professionalism of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the understanding in the world is increasing – the stronger the defense capabilities of Ukraine become, the sooner Russia will be convinced of the futility of its attempts to conquer our state, the sooner this cruel war in the heart of Europe will be put to an end,” said in the statement.
According to the Ukrainian ministers, a lot has already been done to strengthen the defense potential of Ukraine. Our state is grateful to more than fifty partner states for their practical military assistance.
“However, Russia still maintains a significant advantage in the number of troops, weapons, and military equipment. Russian troops continue offensive actions in the east of Ukraine. The Kremlin is determined to further intensify hostilities. Russia’s attempt to take revenge for its failures in the war against Ukraine, including the threat of a new full-scale offensive by Russian forces, is very real.
That is why we appeal to all partner states that have already provided military aid or are planning to provide it, with a call to significantly strengthen their practical contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, to bring this aid to a qualitatively new level,” Kuleba and Reznikov emphasize.
One of the most pressing and urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine today is to improve their provision of modern armored vehicles and increase their fire and maneuverability with the help of Western tanks.
“We welcome the bold and very timely decision of Great Britain to transfer the first squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. But this is not enough to achieve operational goals. Therefore, we are appealing to the states that have Leopard 2 tanks in service, including Greece, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Finland, and Sweden. We guarantee that we will use these weapons responsibly and exclusively to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders.
We appeal to all these and other states that have the appropriate capabilities to join the initiative to create an international tank coalition in support of Ukraine and make their practical contributions to this initiative.
We urge you to do this for the sake of millions of peaceful citizens of Ukraine, who continue to be in mortal danger from the aggressor state and the terrorist state of Russia if the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not receive the necessary reinforcements promptly.
We urge you to do this for the sake of the citizens of your societies, who demand that the terrorist state be stopped so that the crimes it commits do not come to their land and their homes.
We call for this to be done to confirm the right of every people on our planet to be the owner of their land. For the sake of the triumph of universal human values of our civilization – the values of peace, freedom, and democracy,” the statement reads.
