President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the return of the Ukrainian territories through political and diplomatic channels, the end of the war and the achievement of peace would take place due to the support of international partners.
“No state can achieve sustainable development without peace and a sense of security. Sustainable development is impossible under the sounds of gunshots and explosions, it is impossible where aggressive geopolitical strategies applauding the invasion of other states and violation of human rights and freedoms prevail,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed during the participation in the Leaders Dialogue at the UN SDG Summit as part of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York (USA).
The President assured that Ukraine was committed to its Sustainable Development Goals - a national strategic framework was created to achieve them, and a mechanism for the implementation of the objectives and the monitoring of the process is in place.
"Our goals are to grow the economy substantially to overcome poverty and increase employment, to ensure effective law enforcement and judicial reform, to complete decentralization reform," the President said.
At the same time, he said, Ukraine's performance can and should be much better, as the country has chosen the right path to development and now it is time to move faster and more confidently.
“There are two barriers to this path today. The first is a domestic political tradition where reforms important for development are resisted. But the new Ukrainian authorities will definitely cope with this. The second barrier is much more complicated. And we cannot overcome it without international support. This is the war caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
The President recalled that the occupation of Crimea and parts of Donbas in Ukraine had destroyed critical infrastructure, industrial facilities and interconnections.
“But most importantly, Ukraine has lost over 13,000 citizens. Not only professional military, but also volunteers. Doctors, teachers, athletes, scientists, researchers, artists, musicians, journalists, human rights activists are among the deceased. Everyone could have contributed to the development of not only Ukraine, but also the whole world. But this is unfortunately impossible,” the Head of State emphasized.
“However, I believe that together with our international partners, we will be able to bring back our territories, end the war and ensure peace politically and diplomatically. And that is our major goal. So that we can move forward without barriers together with other UN member-states to achieve the other Sustainable Development Goals and build a new world free from poverty, starvation, diseases and wars,” the President of Ukraine summarized.
