Dear conference organizers,

Your Excellencies, 

Dear guests,

 

First of all, allow me to thank the organizers of this Conference entitled "The future of the Western Balkans after Russian Aggression on Ukraine – What's next?” for the invitation to participate in its opening and address all of you today.

Ukraine continues its fight against the unprovoked russian aggression. Today is the 852 day of the war.

We did not lay down our arms. We fight, we defend our sovereignty and right to live.

We are grateful to those who provide us with weapons, financial and humanitarian aid to fight off the russian aggression.

And we expect timely provision of weapons to protect Ukrainians, our territorial integrity and Independence.

Ukraine protects both itself and the democratic world.

The world is now experiencing the consequences of russia's war against Ukraine - it is a question of food security, energy security, nuclear security and information security.

But if the terrorist country of the russian federation is allowed to win, the world will undergo devastating, destructive changes.

One of the consequences of the ongoing destructive changes in the world is the concentration of power in the kremlin in the actions of one person for 25 years.

The autocracy in the russian federation both wrings out the human resource itself and devalues human dignity and human life.

By supporting the aggressive war against Ukraine, russians are rapidly degrading both spiritually and intellectually; economically, it is still possible to deplete natural resources, blackmailing the world.

The large-scale invasion of russian troops into Ukraine undermined the stability of the European world and global security.

Large-scale military actions of the russian federation in Ukraine include, but are not limited to:

• murders of thousands and thousands of people, including children;
• illegal deportation of hundreds of thousands of people to the territory of the russian federation, including the abduction of Ukrainian children;
• temporary occupation of more than 20 percent of the sovereign territory of Ukraine;
• the territory of Ukraine is mined and polluted by the russians (18 percent);
• completely destroyed, burned to the ground Ukrainian cities and villages, which are subjected to daily russian bombings;
• millions of Ukrainians who were forced to leave Ukraine.

According to the announced program of this conference, I know that the consequences of the russian aggression for the world will be discussed.

I would like to emphasize that Ukraine is suffering irreversible losses - human lives, these are the catastrophic consequences of the russian federation's war against Ukraine.

All the negative consequences of the russian aggression can be stopped by the aggressor state itself if it withdraws its occupying troops and frees all temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

However, taking into account the statements of the head of the kremlin on the eve of the Global Peace Summit for Ukraine in Switzerland (15^th-16^th of June 2024), moscow has no plans of ending the war.

The statement declares that Ukrainian troops should leave the territory of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, within the boundaries of the regions themselves.

That is, the kremlin's ultimatum contains a demand to hand over Ukrainian territories to the russian aggressor state which are not even occupied by it.

the russian federation calls this ultimatum a peace proposal for Ukraine.

That is, according to the kremlin's logic, the largest armed aggression in Europe since the Second World War can end by seizing new Ukrainian territories.

Of course, this has nothing to do with logic, this is a predatory continuation of the crime of russian aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine will continue to fight for its sovereignty, defend itself from the aggressor, arm itself for defense, create international institutions to hold the russian federation accountable for the crime of aggression and the crimes against humanity.

Despite the kremlin's utter lies and waves of disinformation attacks, Ukraine will continue to form an international coalition with the aim of restoring the legal order and security in Europe, as well as establishing lasting peace in Ukraine.

A week ago, concluded the Global Peace Summit for Ukraine, which demonstrated international support for Ukraine.

In their speeches, the leaders of foreign countries, in particular, conveyed the following main signals:

• russia is the aggressor, therefore Ukraine has the right to self-defense;
• the aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine has a colonial, imperialist character;
• russia is capable of ending the war at any moment - if it stops its aggression;
• the russian aggression is an attack on the entire global security architecture;
• there are global and far-reaching consequences of the russian aggression against Ukraine;
• support for the principles of the UN Charter, in particular the territorial integrity of countries, and recognition that these principles should become the basis of peace for Ukraine;
• the need to respect the principles of international law and ensure the restoration of a just peace for Ukraine;
• readiness to support Ukraine in the fight against aggression was expressed;
• there is a need for unification in order to restore a just peace.

And I would like to note that the Republic of North Macedonia has been providing military aid to Ukraine and temporary protection to Ukrainians in the territory of North Macedonia since the beginning of the russian federation's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.

Also, we highly appreciate the participation of the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, in the Global Peace Summit for Ukraine.

The Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which is implemented inclusively through the aforementioned Peace Summit, has a clear algorithm for its implementation.

We realize that one such large-scale event will not stop a criminal who has violated and continues to violate all existing norms and customs of international law.

But we very clearly know that the help of partners in the military and financial spheres, the continuation of the sanctions regime for the russian federation and its followers who support the russian federation's war against Ukraine, will help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and contribute to the achievement of a just peace in Ukraine.

I would like to thank you once again for the invitation to participate in this conference and I really hope that your thoughts, positions, and speeches will help the common cause of the progressive democratic forces of the world - the russian federation must stop killing people in Ukraine, the kremlin must withdraw its occupying troops from the occupied territories of Ukraine, the russian federation must be brought to justice and punished for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and for the crimes against humanity.

The implementation of everything beforementioned should ensure a return to human rights and compliance with the UN Charter - this will determine what will be next.

Thank you for your attention!