Debate: Russian aggression against Ukraine
Date: TUESDAY, 1 MARCH 2022
Speaker: Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Language: EN

I speak today now about my citizens – the citizens of Ukraine – who are manning the walls and defending freedom and paying the ultimate price. I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen here – this unifying mood. I’m happy that we have brought together all the countries of the European Union today, but I did not know at what cost. This is a tragedy for me, for every Ukrainian and for every state – thousands of people killed, two revolutions, one war and five days of full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation.  I’m not reading from a sheet of paper, because the paper phase in the life of my country has ended. Now we are dealing with reality. Those people who died – this is real life. I believe that today we are giving our lives for values, for rights, for freedom, for the desire to be equal, just like you are – just like every human is. We are losing our best, our strongest and our most valuable people. Ukrainians are incredible. We often love to say that we will prevail over everyone, and I’m very happy that you are not only talking about it, but you can also see it. I am convinced that we will indeed prevail over everyone. There is an expression, ‘Ukraine chooses Europe’. That’s what we have been striving for, and that’s where we are have been and are still headed. I would very much like to hear you say to us that Europe now chooses Ukraine. I have a few moments to talk with you now since there is a lull in missile strikes and bombardments. This morning was a very tragic one for us. Two cruise missiles hit Kharkiv, a city located close to the border with the Russian Federation. There were always many Russians there, and the people have always been friendly and had warm relations. There are over 20 universities there. It’s the city that has the highest number of universities in our country. The youth there is bright and smart. They have always gathered and continue to gather there to celebrate all the festivals in the largest square in our country, Freedom Square, which is also the largest square in Europe. Yes, it is truly called Freedom Square. Can you imagine that, this morning, two cruise missiles hit Freedom Square? Dozens were killed. This is the price of freedom. We’re fighting for our land and for our freedom. Despite the fact that all large cities of our country are now blocked off, nobody is going to come in and interfere with our freedom and our country. Believe you me – every square in every city of our country from today on, no matter what it’s called, is going to be called Freedom Square. Nobody is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians.  We have a desire to see our children live. I believe this to be a fair one. Yesterday, 16 children were killed. President Putin will say yet again that it’s some kind of operation and that they are hitting military infrastructure where our children happen to be. What kind of military factories are they working at? Are they riding around in tanks or launching cruise missiles? You killed 16 people just yesterday! Our nation is extremely motivated. We are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms and for our lives. Now we’re fighting for our survival, and this is our highest motivation, but we’re also fighting to be equal members of Europe. Today, I believe that we are all showing the world exactly what we’re made of. The European Union will be much stronger with us – that’s for sure. Without you, Ukraine will be alone. We have proven our strength. We have proven that, at the very least, we are exactly the same as you are. So prove that you are with us. Prove that you will not abandon us. Prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will prevail over death and light will prevail over darkness. Glory to Ukraine!