January 22, 2024
Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya recalling the Russian Federation’s recent shelling of more than 100 Ukrainian cities and villages in nine regions, said that transfers of weapons and military equipment to the Russian Federation — particularly from Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — continue to fuel the conflict and increase the toll of civilian casualties.
Citing a recent statement made by former Russian Federation President Dmitry A. Medvedev about the true goals of Moscow’s war against Ukraine — eliminating all Ukrainians as long as they desire independence — he warned that the Kremlin intends to wage a war “until the last Ukrainian” because its model of the world contains neither Ukraine nor Ukrainians. Despite an increase in the number of attacks by the Russian Federation, he credited the decrease in victim statistics to strengthened air defence provided by allies and evacuation measures implemented by Ukrainian authorities.
The historical colonial and imperial mentality towards Ukraine persists among Russian Federation authorities, he went on to say. From Moscow’s perspective, achieving peace in the current war risks “losing Ukraine”, he pointed out, which explains the Russian Federation’s strong opposition to the implementation of Ukraine’s peace formula.
Recalling the recent meeting of national-security and foreign-policy advisors in Davos, he emphasized that over 80 States and international organizations participated — testifying to the rapidly growing interest in the peace formula.
He therefore urged that peace efforts be significantly strengthened, adding that the international community’s task extends beyond ending the war to include overcoming the consequences of the crises the conflict has caused worldwide.