Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the politicians and the people of Sweden 24.03.2022

Speaker 1

In this situation, we see the immense courage of the Ukrainian people. We have also seen the leading role of many people, especially President Zelenskyy, who has become a true leader in these decisive times. For us, it is a great happiness that President Zelenskyy expressed his willingness to address the parliament from Kyiv. I greet you, Mr. President!

Speaker 2

Thank you very much! Greetings to you, Mr. Speaker! I have the great honor and opportunity to address you today. I also greet the Madam Prime Minister, the members of the Riksdag in Sweden, and members of the government. Sweden, if you see this decisive time, now in the world the blue-yellow flag is perhaps the most popular. It is these colors that are associated with freedom. This is so for different people on different continents and, of course, in Europe. The blue and yellow colors of the national flag are not only about Ukraine, they are also about you, about Sweden. And it is obvious that this is not a coincidence, it is destiny, because we are equally for freedom, we are equally for a peaceful life, we are equally for respect for every person, we are equally for justice and equally for a caring attitude toward the decent world in which we live. Therefore, it is logical that Sweden is now among those who support Ukraine the most. I am sincerely grateful to each of you for this. Today marks the anniversary of the most terrible trial of the full-scale war that was unleashed by Russia against our state. Europe has never known such a black month since the time of the Second World War; it had not seen such destruction or such war crimes. The list of those killed already reaches thousands; dozens of our cities and communities are destroyed. Russian troops do not distinguish between civilian and military targets; they destroy everything. They burn residential quarters and houses, blow up hospitals, and even shell kindergartens with rocket artillery. Hundreds, hundreds of educational facilities and more than 200 schools have been destroyed. Russian troops bombed universities—imagine—they destroy any infrastructure that simply, simply serves life. Warehouses with food, medicines,

Speaker 1

seized two nuclear power plants,

Speaker 2

Yesterday, they hit a chemical production facility for the second time; today phosphorus bombs were used, and both adults and children died. Why these actions by Russia? Why such terror against us? This is an attempt to subjugate an entire people, an attempt to make a neighboring state a slave. Ladies and gentlemen, Swedish people, modern Europe, which has finally become peaceful, cannot have a forceful revision of borders, and every nation has the right to independently choose its own future without dictatorship, without coercion, without occupation. Thanks to these two principles, we in Europe had

Speaker 1

unprecedented

Speaker 2

era of cooperation, peace, confidence. We had it until the leadership of Russia decided that it could allegedly move through time, allegedly cancel the 21st century, allegedly act as in the old days of totalitarian ideologies. If Ukraine had not stood its ground, had not been able to defend itself, it would have meant that everything we, modern people, value had lost. Everything you value, everything any free people of any state value, it would have meant that all of Russia's neighbors are in danger. It would mean that you are in danger, because only the sea separates you from the aggressive policy of this state. And Russian propagandists are already discussing on the airwaves of Russian state television how Russia occupies, in particular, your island of Gotland. And how it will keep it under its control for decades; they show this to Russians on a map, demonstrating the directions of the offensive. You will ask, for what purpose? They say that it would be beneficial for Russia to deploy a military base for air defense on Gotland to cover the capture of the Baltic states. Russia went to war against Ukraine because it expects to go further into Europe, expects to destroy freedom further in Europe. This is a fundamental challenge to the European security system. Please look at what the Russian military has already done in our state. Eight years of war in the East. The occupation of Crimea. These are repressions, torture of people, suppression of any manifestations of freedom and diversity. A month of full-scale war. Total cruelty. Bombing of peaceful cities. Just as terrible as it was in Syria. Kidnapping of children. Forced transportation of children and adults to Russia. Rape in occupied areas. Large-scale looting by Russian troops. Now tens of thousands of houses are destroyed, tens of thousands of apartments, and there are already almost 10 million displaced persons, of whom 3.5 million are already on the territory of the European Union. I fundamentally do not want to call these Ukrainians refugees, because I know that they will return to Ukraine as soon as Russia leaves our land, as soon as peace is established. Ladies and gentlemen, Swedish people, Sweden was one of the first to come to our aid, I am grateful to you. Your support is absolutely sincere, it is based on values, on our love for freedom, on what our blue-and-yellow national colors symbolize. The whole world knows what Sweden aspires to. The whole world has seen during this month of this shameful war what Ukraine aspires to. We are together in our anti-war coalition, and we must do everything so that Russia seeks peace. Sweden has made a historic decision to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons. We are grateful to you for this, for your prudence, for your foresight. Sweden supports the policy of sanctions, a policy without which there will be no peace. Because the leadership of Russia understands no other language than effective sanctions. But for peace to come faster, sanction packages against Russia must be applied weekly, not a single barrel of Russian oil, not a single entry of Russian ships into your ports, not a single euro of taxes from your companies in Russia, their war machine must be left without means of existence. The deliberate actions of the Russian troops in destroying civilian people in Ukraine, in destroying our peaceful places, must receive an inevitable and principled reaction from all European countries, from the free world. And this has already become the signature style of the Russian troops. Syria, Ukraine, mass killings, cities destroyed to stones, phosphorus and other prohibited munitions. So that this does not become a winning strategy, all war criminals must receive punishment. Those who gave the orders to kill and those who killed must face a tribunal. So that no other state in the world thinks that it can kill people with impunity. Just like that, simply so. Destroy neighboring countries. I am sure that together we will be able to ensure the coming of peace, and therefore we must already now think about reconstruction, about the restoration of Ukraine after this war. And it will happen. I invite Swedish architects, Swedish companies, the Swedish state, your people to take part in this historic project. Ukraine was beautiful, but now it will become great, because we have such people, a great Ukraine. A great project of restoration for the sake of people, for the sake of the development of our country and all of Europe. I invite you to demonstrate to the world, to all present and future generations, that war does not produce a result, but peace produces a result and gives life. Sweden is the first country to which we propose this project. You can take patronage over a city, any city, region, or sector for its restoration. I am sure that your leadership will be indispensable. Your technologies, business, your love for life, your ability to organize space in the interests of people. Ukraine, all our heroic defenders, all our citizens, have already done an extraordinary amount for the protection of our common European values, our common European home. We fight not only for Ukraine, but for the security of Europe. And we have proven that we deserve to be a full member of the European Union. The decision is already in development. The time has come to adopt it. I believe that you will support us in this as well. Thank you. Thank you, Sweden. Glory to Ukraine!