The release below was sent by the Ukrainian World Congress on February 18.
The scandalous statement titled “Twelve Steps Toward Greater Security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Region,” released during the Munich Security Conference, prompted intense debate in Ukraine and beyond, and provoked fair criticism from Ukrainian and international experts and politicians.
This document is yet another attempt to distort reality and openly promotes the Russian position beginning with the opening words: the conflict “in and around Ukraine.” The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) once again reminds that it was Russia that invaded Ukrainian Crimea and eastern Ukrainian lands. There is no “conflict in and around Ukraine” – there is a war that Russia is waging against Ukraine.
The odious text of the ‘Twelve Steps” aims to impose on the global audience an image of a “civil war in Ukraine” and a “domestic Ukrainian conflict,” create obstacles to Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and help lift sanctions from Russia. The Russian propaganda machine is once again trying to convince the world that Russia is not a party to the aggression – now with the help of politicians, former diplomats and experts of various levels.
Although all points in the document are pro-Russian and have been prepared with complete disregard for Ukraine’s interests, of particular concern is the expression of a need for dialogue with Russia regarding Ukraine’s national identity. Language, history, national identity and remembrance are the foundations of the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian state – the foundations that the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and now Putin’s Russia – have consistently sought to destroy for centuries.
The ‘Twelve Steps” document was another overbearing attempt by Russia to dictate its political conditions, intervene in the domestic affairs of the Ukrainian state, and further destabilize the situation in Ukraine and the region.
The “Twelve Steps” are being positioned as a “text for discussion” and a “private initiative of a group of politicians and experts.” However, the very fact that such odious theses could even be discussed at the Munich Conference and the emergence of the head of this conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, among the signatories is of great concern – especially given the fact that Ukraine is mentioned only eight times in the official report of the conference.
The UWC strongly condemns the key provisions of this document as an attempt to make concessions to the aggressor state. The UWC urges the international community to not compromise with the aggressor state and to acknowledge Russia’s responsibility for the occupation of Crimea and aggression in the Donbas, increasing the pressure of sanctions. The UWC stresses that the path to peace and security in Europe lies solely with the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the de-occupation of the Donbas and Crimea by Russia, and the full compensation for damages caused by the aggressor state.
“The ‘Twelve Step’ anti-Ukrainian plan is another example of Russia’s hybrid aggression, and the latest attempt to impose the Russian perspective on the world. We strongly condemn any attempt to divert the world’s attention from the real root of the aggression, whitewash the responsibility for the resulting damage and compromise with the aggressor. The only possible path to peace and security in Ukraine and the region is the return of the Ukrainian territories of Crimea and the Donbas, the full restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border, and state sovereignty across the territory of a free, united and indivisible Ukraine. And the global Ukrainian community continues to work tirelessly to this end every day,” stated UWC President Pavlo Grod.