President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced that the effectiveness of any pressure on the aggressor state - the Russian Federation - depends primarily on the level of unity of the countries of the world, and Ukraine will continue to work hard to enhance it. The Head of State made this statement during an online meeting with the university community of the Netherlands.
Students from Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam, and the Hague University of Applied Sciences joined the event.
"I believe we have managed to unite the world around Ukraine. The Netherlands, Europe, the United States, other countries. By the way, many countries in Latin America. They have been united around Ukraine since the beginning of the war. At first, everyone thought that it was impossible to unite, but we succeeded. This proves the world can be united," he emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced that the UN could be the best platform for uniting the world, but this is not the case now.
"The world comes together in the UN, but it does not unite on some decisions. This concerns both the tribunal and greater pressure on the Russian Federation. The world often opts for economic relations instead of values," the President explained.
As an example, the Head of State mentioned the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was implemented, in particular, thanks to the powerful efforts of the United Nations. But as soon as the UN eased pressure on Russia, Russia immediately withdrew from the relevant agreements.
"The pressure is powerful when you have unity, when it is a single organism. When the world acts and protects all values equally. Not in words, but in deeds. And when there is fragility in this unity, when, even if everyone in the EU is united, someone suddenly bypasses sanctions somewhere behind their back, helps Russia... Helps them with their own economic issues or for the sake of their cheap energy, engaging in populism with society, takes certain steps contrary to general agreements, the world becomes weaker," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President reminded that Ukraine had proposed the Peace Formula, on the basis of which it wanted to unite the civilized world.
"We will do everything we can to make it happen. And I believe that this can bring us a just peace," he said.
The Head of State also expressed conviction that unity and perseverance should result in bringing to justice all those guilty of unleashing war against Ukraine.
Answering a question about the optimal format of a special international tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that it should be a tribunal entailing a real fair sentence for all the murderers and the leadership of the Russian Federation, which gave the corresponding disgraceful orders.
"The name doesn't matter in terms of content. The most important thing is the result. This is a difficult mission. Again, in order to convict for the original crime, the crime of aggression, we need to have unity. We really need it. But it is difficult to get the leaders of different countries to support a tribunal that will convict the leader of another country. Even if it waged war against the freedom and people of another state," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also believes that in terms of security, Ukraine's accession to the European Union will be a fair decision and a benefit for all EU member states, as there is no army as powerful as the Ukrainian one today, at least in Eastern Europe.
"We have a powerful army that is ready to defend the values we share with the EU. And Ukraine will continue to act in the same way as it is defending the world and these values today," the Head of State emphasized.
Also, according to him, our country now has unique experience in protecting cyberspace and energy infrastructure, training missions and exercises. In addition, even in times of war, Ukraine remains a guarantor of food security and is ready to help Europe just as much as the countries of the African continent and Asian states.