President Volodymyr Zelensky wants another summit with leaders of the Normandy format — which includes Russia, which is waging the war against Ukraine, as well as France, Germany, and Ukraine — to make progress in ending the Kremlin’s aggression and reversing its occupation of the Crimean peninsula and eastern Donbas. Altogether, Russia controls 7% of Ukraine’s territory.
Zelensky spoke about the issue at the Sept. 10 start of the Yalta European Strategy, or YES conference, an annual current events forum sponsored by billionaire oligarch Victor Pinchuk. It is the 17th meeting of YES, which started in 2004 and which was not held last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president repeated many of the same remarks that have been said this past year, stating Russia does not want to end the war, Ukraine does, and that he wants Ukrainian territories returned to the government’s control.
“Intimidating, shouting or threatening we will not achieve anything. I need a result,” Zelensky said.
He hoped that another meeting with the leaders of the Normandy Four could bring such results.
However, when the last in-person Normandy Four summit was held in Paris in December 2019, many of the main issues remained unsolved, and Russia continues to break agreements made at summits by still waging war in the eastern Donbas.
One positive outcome of the last summit was the more than 100 detained Ukrainians that were returned to their country.
Results, however incremental, are what the president focused on. “If the meeting is held, some kind of result will be seen,” the president said during the event, “we will have some people released.”
Zelenky didn’t rule out a full-scale Russian assault on Ukraine but said it would be a mistake on their part.
During his speech the president also mentioned how the world needs genuine united efforts to overcome global challenges together. Zelensky stated that in order to prevent an “all-against-all” approach the world needs new leaders, “who do not rely on the strength of their weapons” and “end wars among humans on the planet.”
Unity is also what is needed to solve global crises such as COVID-19. Without such unified action, the world risks more disasters “if the world does not draw conclusions from it.”
Zelensky called for more strategic friends, stating Ukraine is ready for NATO, and that both NATO and the European Union will be weaker without Ukraine as a member. The president emphasized that reforms undertaken in order to join the Western institutions are done first and foremost to benefit Ukraine. They are needed to “allow people to live easier, to grow stronger economically,” Zelensky said.
The president also wants more strategic financial partners, stating Ukraine is ready to work with foreign businesses and nations such as China to increase foreign investment in the Ukrainian economy.
