Russia turning everything that can be used for pressure on Ukraine into weapon – Stefanchuk

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said this at the international conference "Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South".

He noted that Russia's war against Ukraine was not a matter of two countries or a regional European conflict. Stefanchuk emphasized that the Russian-Ukrainian war concerned the whole world.

In this context, the Verkhovna Rada Chairman said that the Russian Federation was undermining world security, turning into a weapon everything that can be used to put pressure on Ukraine, its partners, and the world community in general.

He added that it was impossible to stop Russia by sitting down at the negotiating table and ceasing active hostilities. "The freezing of the war and the lack of fair punishment for those who unleashed it, those who committed crimes in the occupied Crimea or Donbas for ten years, who committed and continue to commit war crimes after the full-scale invasion – all this will only mean preparation for a new phase of the war. Ukraine will not start negotiations with Russia as long as Russian troops remain on our internationally recognized territory. We do not even think about territorial compromises, because for Ukraine there is no difference between Donetsk region or Lviv, Chernihiv or Crimea, Kyiv or Sevastopol," Stefanchuk stressed.

At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada Chairman mentioned the Ukrainian Peace Formula – a ten-point plan to "reformat the global security system, create a new safe and just world order." He stressed that this plan had already been supported by all friends and allies of Ukraine.

As a reminder, Kyiv hosted the international conference "Global Crimea. Understanding Ukraine through the South" which was attended by Ukrainian officials and opinion leaders from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Photo: Facebook, Ruslan Stefanchuk