Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started two years ago, on February 24th, 2022. Yet the war started in 2014 when Russia temporarily occupied Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and invaded Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russia’s February 2022 attack was intended as a blitzkrieg, to destroy the Ukrainian state within days or weeks.
Two years later, Ukraine is still standing and fighting back, having liberated more than half of the newly occupied territories, lifting Russia’s naval blockade by sinking nearly a third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and forming a global coalition to support Ukraine.
Russia currently has no intention of ceasing armed aggression, withdrawing its occupation troops from Ukraine, or pursuing diplomatic solutions.
Russia also continues to launch missile and drone strikes on peaceful Ukrainian cities, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure.
The last two years dismissed Moscow’s calculations that we are weak, that Ukraine will not resist, and that the world will turn a blind eye to Russia’s military invasion and attempt to change borders by force.
Ukraine has shown its readiness to fight against the Russian aggressor and the world has shown its ability to unite in supporting Ukraine and the global security architecture, based on rules and international law.
No other country wants peace more than Ukraine. But Ukrainians also know that the path to true and just peace lies through battlefield success and throwing occupiers out of Ukraine’s land.
The problem isn’t Ukraine but the one who started the war – Russia.
When Russia says it is willing to negotiate, it means negotiating Ukraine’s capitulation. What Moscow calls “peace talks” are actually “occupation talks”.
Russia wants to be able to bite off a portion of Ukrainian territory. We are not ready for “peace at any price”. My country needs a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, in full conformity with the norms of international law.
We urge all our partners, including Rwanda, to remain united and continue to support Ukraine. Russia makes every effort to sow doubt and discord among free nations that support Ukraine, and we must not allow Moscow to achieve this goal.
Supporting Ukraine now is the best way to prevent unlawful and unjustified aggression in future.
Every crime should face the punishment under the international law, and every criminal should be brought to justice.
Don’t ask how long this war will last; ask yourself what else you can do to help Ukraine to withstand.
Ukraine is grateful to every nation, leader, and individual who has been standing with us all along. We appreciate Rwanda’s support and will keep it in our hearts forever. It has allowed us to survive and to continue resisting the invasion.
The outcome of Russian aggression against Ukraine will define the line between good and evil, allowed and forbidden.
Ukraine can win the war and prevent the death of the rule-based world, as long as our partners remain committed to the cause of defending freedom and the rule of law from tyranny.
The Author, H.E. Mr. Andrii Pravednyk, is the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Rwanda. His views may not necessarily represent those of Taarifa.
