“We will not surrender,” declared the Ukrainian President before the British House of Commons. Zelenskyj’s party agrees to postpone the goal of joining NATO – and names conditions.
In a speech to the British House of Commons, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyj invoked his country’s fighting spirit.
In view of the Russian attack, Ukraine is dealing with Shakespeare’s question “To be or not to be,” said Selenskyj, who was connected via video call from Kyiv. In view of the tenacious resistance of his compatriots against the Russian army, he could now give a definitive answer. “It is definitely: be,” said Zelenskyj.
The President of Ukraine also alluded to a famous World War II speech by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. They will not give up and will not lose, but will fight at sea, in the air, in forests, fields, on the coasts, in towns and villages, in the streets and on the hills. Churchill used similar words in 1940 to his people when they feared a German invasion.
Selenskyj also lamented the civilian casualties of the war over the past two weeks. 50 children have already died in the Russian attack.
Zelenskyi renews call for no-fly zone
Among other things, he hopes that Great Britain will impose further sanctions on the Russian economy and that Russia will be classified as a terrorist state, said the Ukrainian President. He also renewed calls for a ban on flying over Ukraine.
The speech was met with great applause from the deputies. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after Zelenskyy’s speech that the House of Commons had never heard such a speech before. The British prime minister said that Ukraine would be supported with arms and sanctions and all diplomatic, humanitarian and economic means to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to subjugate the country.
Security guarantees instead of joining NATO
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s party is willing to postpone its goal of joining NATO in exchange for security guarantees. “The Alliance is not ready to absorb Ukraine over the next at least 15 years and has made this clear,” the Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) party said. It is therefore high time to talk about concrete guarantees before admission to NATO.
“The USA, Turkey and the neighboring countries of Ukraine could become guarantor states,” the statement said. In addition, Russia must confirm without a doubt that it recognizes Ukrainian statehood “and guarantees that it will not threaten our state”.
“Our Ukraine – that includes Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea”
Since 2019, the goal of joining NATO has been laid down in the Ukrainian constitution. Russia is demanding that Ukraine renounce this and declare itself neutral.
The governing party again rejected any cessions of territory to Russia. “We are not even theoretically considering the possibility of (…) giving up parts of our territory. This is not acceptable. Our Ukraine – that includes Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.”
Selenskyj had previously shown himself ready for talks on the US broadcaster ABC about the status of the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia. However, he too had emphasized that he would not respond to Russian demands to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed “People’s Republics” and Russian rule over Crimea.
Source: Stern
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