President Zelenskyy: Russian escalation threats shouldn’t undermine our resolve

“Russia is trying to convince nations that giving up principles is easy – that they can ignore international law and turn a blind eye to injustice, as if this will bring stability,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Ukraine-Nordic Summit on Oct. 28.

First, I want to thank the Prime Minister of Iceland for hosting this Summit. Thank you so much for the invitation. The Fourth Ukraine – Nordic Countries Meeting in such a format. It is a successful format to my mind and I’m glad that it is developing.

Dear friends!

Thank you for your strong support for Ukraine and for upholding the highest standard of principled assistance from your nations.

The first thing dictators attack is that – principles. Different ‘Putins’ around the world undermine principles within their own societies, using propaganda and repression, so that people cannot stand up for what they believe in. And then, when the dictatorship gains strength and has enough resources, it tries to export its lack of principles, creating a gray zone without values next to itself.

Europe has had to face this many times. Now, we are at another defining moment.

Russia is trying to convince nations that giving up principles is easy – that they can ignore international law and turn a blind eye to injustice, as if this will bring stability. This is the main message from Moscow – Putin tells everyone to forget their principles, not to be decisive and to hand over Ukrainian land and people, and then, supposedly, Russian bombs will stop.

Full text of the address: Office of the President of Ukraine