Kyiv, February 24, 2022

Today, on February 24, 2022, the troops of the Russian Federation, by order of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, have carried out an open act of armed aggression and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

They are bombing our land - our cities, our villages, our airports and seaports. They are attacking the Ukrainian Donbass, they are shelling Kharkiv, they are storming Odesa, they are killing our soldiers and innocent civilians - children, the elderly, women and men. The very existence of Ukraine as an independent and democratic European nation is now under threat.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, speaking on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people who have been living on this land for over a thousand years and building their own nation state since Rus-Ukraine times, having exercised their right to self-determination, have been developing democracy for centuries and have lived through dozens of enemy assaults, conquests and occupations,

declaring our unshakable will to treat human life as the highest value, to live peacefully, freely, with respect for human and civil rights, including the right to choose freely the path of internal development for our nation and to choose our allies and friends,

admits that the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian people have suffered a treacherous and unprovoked armed aggression by the Russian Federation, whose troops began hostilities at 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022, without declaring war, along the perimeter of the Ukrainian border with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus and from the territory of the temporarliy occupied Crimea, firing missiles and dropping bombs throughout Ukraine with columns of Russian armored vehicles fighting their way into Ukraine,

notes that Russia's totalitarian regime leaves no room for compromise and diplomacy - its goal is to subdue Ukraine to its will, ruin its millennium-old polity, destroy democracy, wipe out culture and rewrite history,

regrets that the global security system has been entirely ruined.

In this regard, Ukraine applies the right of self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter. 

The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have been forced to wage a defensive war in order to protect their own territory, the lives of their citizens and their civilizational choice.

Throughout recent history, Ukraine has made an undeniable and notable contribution to world security - renounced the world's third largest nuclers arsenal, strictly adhered to all non-proliferation and arms control regimes, and has always been one of the most active States in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations - protecting Kuwait from being occupied by Saddam Hussein's troops, fighting international terrorism, piracy and other global challenges. 

In these difficult days, Ukraine is defending not only itself, but also the right of every nation to choose and the right to live freely. Ukraine is making enormous human and material sacrifices to restore law, not force, as the driving force of international relations.

That is why today Ukraine needs not only rhetorical solidarity, but it also counts on the practical support of the international community.

Ukraine needs assistance with weapons and equipment, which will make it possible to level out the advantage of the Russian Federation's troops in the air, at sea and in armored vehicles. 

In a real war, Ukraine also needs help to maintain the resilience and stability of its economy and  financial sector.

We call for the rejection of fear and for thwarting the criminal plans of Russian President Vladimir Putin aiming to subjugate European and world democracies one after another, to destroy the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO, and to trample on international law and peace. 

Vladimir Putin's war crimes and the Kremlin leadership's crimes against peace must be punished. The Russian Federation must pay the highest price for invading Ukraine.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appeals to the states - guarantors of independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine in accordance with the Memorandum on Security Guarantees in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Budapest Memorandum) to take immediate action for effective de-escalation and stopping the Russian Federation's armed aggression against Ukraine, the withdrawal of its troops and equipment from the territory of Ukraine and the provision of real assistance to Ukraine in restoring its sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders. 

 We also call on the international community:

1) to deploy a no-fly zone by NATO forces over the territory of Ukraine to protect civilians from air and missile strikes; 

2) to apply the harshest sanctions in order to deprive the the Russian Federation's militaristic machine of financial preferences - disconnect it from SWIFT, freeze financial and other transactions with the Russian Federation and all public entities of this state, and impose strong sanctions against all Russian state-owned banks;

3) to prohibit the transfer to the Russian Federation of any military goods and technologies, as well as dual-use goods and technologies, suspend all types of military and military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation, prohibit activities and services in seaports of the Russian Federation, landing and maintenance of the Russian Federation's aircraft at international airports;

4) to terminate cooperation with the Russian Federation in the space, aviation and high-tech fields, in instrument making, including a ban on the transfer of software to the Russian Federation; 

5) to prohibit the Russian Federation from insuring air, sea, rail and road vehicles and passenger and freight traffic;

6) to terminate all modes of transport with the Russian Federation;

7) to stop the import of Russian oil and gas by refusing to receive energy from the Russian Federation, or at least limit them as much as possible, terminate the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, and stop the construction of Rosatom nuclear power plants outside the Russian Federation;

8) to suspend any political dialogue with the regime of Vladimir Putin until his unconditional agreement to cease hostilities in Ukraine, withdraw troops from Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and return to the negotiating table; 

9) to apply the harshest personal sanctions to those around Vladimir Putin, the leadership and staff of all federal, regional and local authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as members of their families;

 10) to freeze assets, accounts, confiscate property and abolish the right to work, study and permanently reside outside the Russian Federation for all persons associated with representatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation and members of their families; 

11) to stop issuing visas to citizens of the Russian Federation, except for persons persecuted by this dictatorial regime.

The time for dialogue and unjustified hopes is over. The future of all of us, of every country in the world, depends on our solidarity, firmness and commitment to common values.