Polish foreign minister calls for “peace through strength” in Ukraine in UN speech

On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland's foreign minister has called for “peace through strength” as it is “the only kind the Kremlin respects”, and for the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.

Radosław Sikorski was speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on behalf of the European Union's foreign policy chief. He assured that “we, as Europeans, will continue to stand side by side with Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

“On this tragic anniversary, our thoughts go out to the countless Ukrainians who have suffered. “Their resilience is a testament to the unbreakable spirit of people who seek nothing more than their rightful place in the community of free nations,” said Sikorski.

According to the UN, over 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded globally, with around one million in Poland.

Sikorski also highlighted that Russia has spent over $200 billion on the war. “Imagine how many kindergartens, schools and hospitals could be built…with such a fortune,” he said. “But instead…the Kremlin prefers to bomb them in Ukraine while treating Ukrainians and its own people as collateral damage.”

In his speech, Sikorski highlighted that “no one wants and needs peace in Ukraine more than the Ukrainians, no one has a larger stake in European security than us Europeans and no one has greater power to end this conflict than Russia.”

He then pointed out that “all [Russia] needs to do is stop the killing and leave territories she illegally occupies.” Sikorski then called for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine as the only way to achieve “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace…consistent with the UN charter.”

Speaking on behalf of the EU, he stressed that “we, as Europeans, will continue to stand side by side with Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace. “Peace through strength – the only kind Kremlin respects.”

Ending his speech, Sikorski quoted Władysław Bartoszewski, a former Polish foreign minister and survivor of Auschwitz and Stalinist prisons, and reminds the council that “when you are in doubt how to behave, behave with decency”.

Main image credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland / flickr.com (under CC BY-NC 2.0 )