Dear Hosoda-sensei,
Dear Speakers and Presidents of the G7 Parliaments,
Dear friends,
First of all, let me thank Speaker Hosoda for inviting me to participate in the 21st G7 Speakers’ Meeting and wish him a speedy recovery and good health.
And to all of you, dear colleagues, let me thank for your joint decision to give me the opportunity to address you for the second time, after Berlin, and talk about Ukraine, about Europe, about the world!
I am deeply honored to be in your circle today: in the circle of people that we share common ground with, in the circle of partners, in the circle of true and reliable friends of Ukraine.
I am addressing you on the five hundred and sixty-second day of the full-scale russian invasion.
I am addressing you on behalf of the unbreakable Ukrainian people, who are fighting a heroic struggle for their territorial integrity and sovereignty!
I am addressing you with the words of gratitude on behalf of Ukrainians for the help and support you have been consistently providing to us in this just struggle for freedom!
I am addressing you with pain in my heart for all the innocent Ukrainians killed by russia, but also with pride for our fearless soldiers who are liberating Ukrainian land from the occupiers through the minefields, under heavy enemy fire, day and night, meter by meter.
Every day and every hour, the russian aggressors commit crimes that are striking in their cruelty and senselessness.
The most recent russia’s crime was a missile attack on a market in Kostiantynivka that killed 16 civilians and wounded more than thirty.
Examples like this are countless, the number of victims has reached tens of thousands, and millions of my compatriots are suffering.
The acts of repression against the Ukrainian population in the temporarily occupied territories take the form of murders, torture, illegal deprivation of liberty, abduction of children and infiltration camps.
The repression also includes forced mobilization, massive forced issuance of russian passports.
Eradication of everything Ukrainian, from television to education.
All of this has become a hallmark of the russian aggression, which has obvious signs of genocide, because it is an attempt to destroy the Ukrainian identity.
Last winter, russia tried to deprive Ukrainians of heat, water, and electricity by destroying energy infrastructure.
Today, russia is trying to use hunger as a weapon against the entire world by blockading Ukrainian ports, by destroying grain elevators, and mining thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s territory is the most mined territory in the world.
Demining will take years.
And no one knows how many innocent people will suffer from the mines of the aggressor country in the future.
The russian terror has inflicted colossal damage to the environment.
The blowing up of the Kakhovka dam has led to a real ecocide — the destruction of entire ecosystems.
The ecocide committed by russia affects the entire region.
After all, the environmental damage cannot be limited to the borders of one country.
Similarly, the nuclear threat from russia is not a threat exclusively to Ukraine.
Radiation knows no borders, and Ukraine knows this.
Japan knows this.
The world knows this.
Unfortunately, our nations have suffered irreparable damage due to nuclear disasters, and this tragic experience is unfortunately part of our national memory.
We understand the depth of the nuclear threat, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that humanity does not repeat the mistakes of the past.
However, today there is a real danger of a repeat of the nuclear tragedy.
russia has seized Europe’s largest Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and stationed its troops there along with military equipment and ammunition.
This poses a threat to the entire continent.
The deployment of nuclear weapons in belarus and threats to use them against a sovereign state that once gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for guarantees to respect its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable.
russia is engaging in outright nuclear blackmail, which no civilized country led by a sane leadership would resort to.
We must do everything possible to prevent the aggressor from using it for its criminal purposes, so that the peaceful nuclear energy remains peaceful and nuclear weapons are no longer used as an element of intimidation.
My main message to you, your parliaments and nations is that it is time to make decisive, responsible and life-changing decisions.
It is not the time to hesitate or procrastinate.
Indecisiveness is perceived by the enemy as weakness, and it feeds his impudence, arrogance, and cruelty.
Ukraine, which is currently executing a counteroffensive, needs F-16 fighter aircraft, Ukraine needs fast and high-quality pilot training, air defense systems such as Patriot; Ukraine needs long-range and high-precision weapons, missiles and shells, modern tanks and armored vehicles more than ever.
All this will allow us to speed up the counteroffensive, liberate all our territories and end the war.
Most weapons deliveries to Ukraine and related funding require parliamentary approval, so I ask you to contribute to our common goal and promptly support the relevant decisions of your governments.
The sanctions policy should be strengthened, becoming an effective tool to deter the aggressor and speed up our victory.
I appeal to you, dear colleagues, and the parliaments you lead, to play a key role in the political approval of sanctions pressure on the aggressor and the approval of additional sanctions.
Every company that makes missiles, every propagandist who incites enmity, every so-called politician who incites the war – they all have to feel the full weight of sanctions pressure.
We are also grateful for the understanding that the crime of aggression cannot go unpunished.
Investigations by the International Court of Justice, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in The Hague, the Register of Damage Caused by Aggression and the Compensation Fund are the main instruments for restoring justice.
And this is where the G7 countries are demonstrating leadership in helping to build such mechanisms.
I want to thank your countries for their willingness to implement the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
Thank you for your leadership and the commitment to bring the peace closer!
Do you know what infuriates the russian authorities the most?
The fact that more and more countries are joining the discussion and implementation of the Peace Formula.
And this means that our circle is growing.
This means we are on the right track.
We are confidently moving towards the Global Peace Summit, we are moving towards peace, but a just peace, which means a lasting peace.
We are grateful for the adoption of the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine of July 12, 2023, which has already been joined by 21 countries. In total, together with the G7 countries, we already have 28 signatories, including the European Union.
This Declaration is not only about security guarantees for Ukraine, it is about strengthening the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region, where the G7 countries play a crucial role.
We have already started negotiations on bilateral security agreements with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
We are preparing to start negotiations with France.
We hope to open such bilateral negotiations with all the G7 countries, dear friends!
Future bilateral security agreements should be legally binding.
This is where the support of the G7 parliaments is needed.
We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Budapest Memorandum.
Dear Colleagues,
Just as at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Ukrainians remain highly mobilized.
All our efforts are focused on the struggle to defend Ukraine’s independence.
Our main goal has not changed, and our goal is the complete liberation of our territory from the russian occupation.
We will not cede a single meter of the Ukrainian land to russia. Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol must return to where they naturally belong. They must return to Ukraine.
This is our goal, and we are consistently pursuing it, based on the capabilities available to us, exercising our inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Leaving at least a patch of the Ukrainian territory occupied would mean giving the kremlin an instrument of influence on our country and a springboard for a future offensive, and most importantly, it would mean abandoning our citizens, who are suffering under occupation.
The principle of territorial integrity is one of the most important principles of the international law on which the international order is based.
Neglecting this principle will undoubtedly open the door to revisionist states seeking to repeat such actions in other regions of the world.
Our goal is not only to restore peace in Ukraine, but also to bring back justice to the world based on the universal principles of international law.
Our efforts must be aimed at preventing armed aggression.
If one country commits the crime of aggression and launches a war of aggression, this is proof that the existing system has failed.
Today, we see that russia has not only occupied Ukraine, but also the seat of a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
It is waging unprovoked armed aggression against a neighboring state and abusing the right of veto, paralyzing the Security Council.
The russian aggression demonstrates the need to improve the existing mechanisms for implementing the UN Charter and increase the effectiveness of international judicial institutions.
Joint steps in this direction will help strengthen the ability of the world’s countries to prevent armed aggression and foster confidence in the strength of international law.
Any potential aggressor must understand that they will not get away with an illegal armed attack on their neighbors.
Such an aggressor must be aware that they will be subject to preventive measures and restrictions, and that any violation of the order will be duly retaliated.
This is an essential component of restoring respect for the principles of international law and a guarantee of a return to a just world order.
Dear friends,
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my sincere gratitude to the peoples of your countries, to the peoples you represent.
Millions of people from Okinawa to Brussels, from Los Angeles to Milan, from Hamburg to Toulon, from Vancouver to London, are helping Ukraine – with prayers and actions, with words and deeds.
The Ukrainian people will always remember this!
On your desks you will find drawings of Ukrainian children, who are asking for protection, dreaming of peace, and aspirating for a happy future.
Take these drawings with you – let them remind you of our shared responsibility not to lose heart.
While already here in Tokyo, I was told a very telling story.
When the Japanese government was asked why it was helping Ukrainians, the answer was simple and deep at the same time:
We are doing this for the Ukrainians because this is what the Japanese people want”.
And I found myself thinking that I have heard very similar words in different parts of the world from the high representatives of the nations that you represent here today, who stand side by side with Ukrainians.
These laconic words, which are yet full of dignity, inspire us to continue to fight for our freedom, for the right to decide our own fate, for the right to be an equal member of the democratic and civilized world!
Because this is what the Ukrainian people want!
Thank you! Arigato gozaimasu!