Russia has launched a war against Ukraine.
This aggression is large-scale, long-term and far-reaching.
The Kremlin has violated all fundamental principles of international relations, values and norms governing the coexistence of independent states in Europe.
A deconstruction of the world system has started, potentially leading to disastrous consequences for all of civilization.
This aggression was contemplated for quite some time, many of us saw its nascence, but did not want to believe in such a brutal and incredible reality.
Russia does not want to accept Ukraine’s freedom and independence. Neither does it accept the sovereignty of any other neighboring nation. A deathly thirst to restore the empire has seized the country.
The informational war against Ukraine has assumed an unprecedented scale and has become a worldwide industry of deceit. In their propaganda the regime is positing Russia as a victim of a worldwide conspiracy led by the United States.
Influenced by the intoxication of this massive propaganda, Russian society has become prone to its old illnesses of chauvinism, xenophobia and fear of the outside world.
Step by step with amazing accuracy, the history of the Third Reich repeats itself.
We are obliged and we are able to stop the aggressor.
This is not a local war, which the world can ignore from behind a border.
The key to the safety of every single European country is not an ostrich-like blissful ignorance of the threats, or individual agreements with the aggressor, but solidarity and the defence of the values and principles that are the basis of European civilization.
There can be no long term stability if values are not protected.
Putin’s regime forces the world to make sacrifices. Modern German, French or Spanish citizens have to sacrifice their well-being and peace not for the sake of Ukraine. At stake are the fundamental principles of European culture, and it is better to pay a lesser price today rather than a much higher one tomorrow.
The overriding motivation for the Putin regime’s continued aggression are not the fabricated “crimes” of the Ukrainian government but a permanent retreat of the West in the face of ever bolder criminal actions of Russia’s political regime.
The aggressor must realize that he has crossed the permissible limits and that the world is not passively viewing this brutal force.
We are grateful to the world for its solidarity and support. A totally demolished Ukraine bereft of any support would be a victory for Putin. A defended and successfully reformed democratic Ukraine will be a triumph of European culture.
It is not up to us to determine what aid specifically can be provided to Ukraine today. That is the mandate of its Government. However, we ask our foreign partners to note that every statement about their “inability to use military force” is accompanied by another outbreak of the military aggression from Russia.
Every “peaceful” dialogue with the aggressor turns out to become another tragedy for Ukraine on the battlefield.
The war can be called “hybrid”, but the human losses can not.
We call on international leaders and on the world community to review their policy on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and realize that the main source of war and aggression is a political regime of President Putin.
The comprehensive and strict isolation of this criminal regime is the most urgent task that should be done to save humanity from a repetition of the tragedy of the Second World War.
Putin has destroyed the soul of his country. He caused his people to become dreaded in the world. He has launched a deadly attack on us all.
Putin thus distorted the second decade of the XXI century, but setting out the parameters of the future is not within his powers.
We believe that a consolidated Euro-Atlantic community will rejuvenate and protect the defining values of own culture.
[hr]The Initiative Group “First of December” was created on the twentieth anniversary of the referendum for the Independence of Ukraine. It includes senior national intellectuals: Viacheslav Briukhovetsky, Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, Volodymyr Horbulin, His Eminence Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Ivan Dziuba, Myroslav Marynovych, Myroslav Popovych, Yevhen Sverstiuk, Vadym Skurativsky, Ihor Yukhnovsky, and aims to achieve the establishment of new rules in the country.
