Zelenskyy calls for global peace summit in leaked message rejected by FIFA: video, full text

Although FIFA rebuffed Zelenskyy’s request to share a message of world peace prior to kickoff at the World Cup final in Qatar today, the video was recorded and published on social media by Ukrainian football players.

In the video, Zelenskyy calls to join a Global Peace Formula Summit to implement Ukraine’s peace formula. Here is the full text:

“Greetings to all fans of football, life, and peace. I congratulate the whole planet on the World Cup Final.

Today, we’ll witness a common victory, the celebration of human spirit.

This World Cup proved time and again that different countries and nationalities can decide who is the strongest in fair play, but not in playing with fire, on the green plain field, not on the red battlefield.

This is the dream of so many people, when players compete, making everybody enjoy peace. Every father would like to take his son to a football match all over the world, and every mother would like her son to be back from war, whenever it is.

Ukraine strives for peace more than anything else. We offer a peace formula to the world. Absolutely fair: we offer it because there can be no champions in war, there can be no draw.

So, I announce the initiative to hold a global Peace Formula Summit this winter, the summit to unite all the nations of the world around the cause of global peace.

Stadiums and stands are empty after the match, and after war, cities remain empty. That’s why wars must fail and peace is to become the champion, as it is here in Qatar now: the World Cup, but not the World War, it is possible.

Please support Ukraine in our efforts to restore peace. Join the Global Peace Formula summit and become a champion of peace. Let’s witness the final together, and the end of war.

Slava Ukraini and happy Qatar day.”

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1604468623313342466

Ukraine’s President offered FIFA (the organization that controls international football and organizes the World Cup) to appear in a video link to fans in the stadium in Qatar, ahead of the game on 18 December. However, talks between Ukraine and the sport’s governing body failed to come to fruition. FIFA declined Zelenskyy’s request.

Ukraine’s formula for peace

Zelenskyy presented Ukraine’s formula for peace in a video address to the latest G20 summit. It comprises 10 points, including Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, a tribunal for Russian war criminals, and reparations. At the latest G7 summit, Ukraine’s president touted the idea to hold a global peace formula summit “to determine how and when we can implement the points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.”

Ukraine’s formula for peace: Russia withdraws from Ukraine, returns POWs and deportees, pays reparations – Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy does his best to use major world events in order to keep the global spotlight on the Russian genocidal war against Ukraine. Ukraine’s President addressed the G20 Summit, spoke on screen at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, and appeared via video during the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival last spring. He has also done numerous interviews with a diverse array of celebs, including David Letterman and Sean Penn.

Related:

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this. We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!