In an address at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi emphasized the urgent need for security guarantees for Ukraine amid its ongoing struggle for independence.
He called for NATO membership as a vital pathway to ensure long-term stability in the West.
Good morning. I’m glad to welcome you all, and thank you for inviting me to this wonderful place. This is my first time here, and it’s a great honor to be among such intelligent and distinguished people.
Traditionally, I start and end every meeting with my friends and partners by expressing my gratitude for their support. I am thankful that we continue to fight, and I hope we will persevere and achieve victory – not only for Ukraine but for the entire civilized world. This victory will be a hallmark of this century.
I will be talking about some scientific definitions and concepts. I will be absolutely honest and sincere, and first of all, I will be talking as Valerii Zaluzhnyi, as a person who has experience not only in military matters but also in diplomatic work. I will be sharing my personal opinions and thoughts, which, I hope, will help us understand the future that awaits us and the steps we need to take – not only for Ukraine to prevail in this war.
I would like to begin by presenting some factual evidence that we in Ukraine use to scientifically understand what is happening. We will discuss some empirical judgments and the evidence I have formed for myself. Of course, these cannot fully claim to be scientific, but to what extent these judgments are of a scientific nature or reality is for you to judge.
1. The Collective West exists; I personally consider it a group of developed Western countries with highly developed economies, primarily developed democracies, and their own security system, such as NATO, for example. Indeed, it is a security system of the Collective West, and this system primarily protects the democracies and developed economies of those countries.
2. There are a number of countries in the world with a high concentration of power in their hands. They have no democracy; their economies are typically based on mineral reserves or are subject to planned regulation. Everything in these economies is designed to serve the interests of the ruling leader, party, or movement, with everything geared toward maintaining these authoritarian regimes.
3. There are countries in the world that have managed to break away from authoritarian empires and regimes. Some of these countries were fortunate enough to join the Collective West, while others, due to the opposition from these authoritarian empires, continue their struggle primarily to join the civilized world. In the current situation, these countries fighting to join the so-called Western world also face the risk of losing their independence. Some countries have already formally lost their independence. And there’s Ukraine, my homeland, which has found itself in a war for its own independence from an authoritarian empire.
4. Unlike those countries that lost their independence almost bloodlessly, Ukraine has been fighting for its independence for the last ten years with weapons in its hand. The full-scale war has been ongoing for almost three years, with more than 30,000 people killed and hundreds of thousands injured. Yet, we continue to fight. We Ukrainians strive to live in a civilized Western world and be free, and I want us all to understand this. Despite all the troubles, we have the right to our own future. Our enemy, by ignoring our desires, denies our history, denies our culture, and seeks to destroy us as a nation in a physical sense – a nation with its own history and culture. This is evidenced not only in the stories of the last century, let’s take Holodomor. We should also remember recent events in Bucha and Hostomel, and the occupied territories. These facts make any future peaceful coexistence impossible, and therefore, we cannot consider any options to stop the war based on intentions for mutual security.
5. What is happening in Ukraine today is a logical consequence of the Collective West’s reluctance to influence the global security system, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the West and the United States. In 2008, Russia began its so-called expansion, creating a belt of its security space. Then, in 2014, under the silence of the same Collective West, Russia started the war against Ukraine, which has become the bloodiest war of the 21st century in the heart of Europe.
6. To keep the West in fear, Putin speaks about red lines and nuclear weapons. Western politicians, often being held hostage by their own voters, repeatedly talk about the need to avoid escalation. This is simply a fact of reality. The question remains: will this war be limited to only Putin’s appetites concerning Ukraine? Naturally, the answer should come from Western politicians, who must be honest in their response to the voters.
7. The Collective West didn’t truly believe in Ukraine. That’s why the Western press, fearing Putin, initially gave Ukraine three hours, then three days, and eventually came to the edge of Ukraine. The Collective West, fearing nuclear war or escalation, and I say this as the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, did not provide Ukraine with the necessary amount of weapons. As a result, in 2023, we failed to achieve any significant advancements in defeating Russia and entered a state of protracted war. Finding a way out of this protracted war seems nearly impossible. Back in 2023, we lost the opportunity to independently bring this war to an end.
8. This is a fact of reality that concerns all of us. Please tell me, is it now a secret that China, North Korea, and Iran have united around Russia? Or does anyone believe that these countries have united against Ukraine? If so, let me be the first to disappoint you – most of these countries don’t even know where Ukraine is. If we look carefully at an organization like BRICS, especially its prospects for expansion, we must ask: what about the Collective West? Is it still afraid of escalation?
9. Whether you want it or not, war has changed. There will be no war of the 1953 model – I’m talking about the Korean War, which effectively ended in summer 2023 in Ukraine – when two professional armies, each more than a million strong, faced off against each other on the battlefield. When robots entered the battlefield, there was laughter from the Western press and local generals. By 2024, technology, particularly artificial intelligence, began to play a significant role in warfare. I described this shift in my previous writings; no one is laughing at me anymore. In the United Kingdom, there is a recognition of this, but NATO has remained silent and hasn’t adapted to the changes in global security, still relying on principles and weaponry inherited from the Korean War. Global security continues to be built on expensive weapons systems — missiles, fighter jets, and aircraft carriers, but it cannot solely rely on them. In a massive war, the capacity to produce these systems at scale will diminish, reducing their effectiveness.
10. We have been fighting for our freedom for ten years, and we have not become part of the proposed Russian Union or any group of countries. Our vision for future victory is simple: we need to regain three fundamental things.
- We need the feeling of personal security. Every individual should be entitled to feel safe. Ukrainians live with the daily sound of sirens, fearing they may receive a death notice about their loved ones. It is vital that we ensure, at least for the next 100 years, that no one attacks Ukraine again. Documents like the Budapest Memorandum have proven ineffective in this situation. We require security guarantees for ourselves and our children, and this can be addressed immediately. I support the President of Ukraine’s statement that we simply need to join NATO. Another alternative would be to transform Ukraine into a NATO member. While Russia currently has allies that complicate this prospect, we can look to successful examples like Israel. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has endured ongoing wars. Whether such an option is possible for Ukraine remains to be seen, but as of now, there is no alternative to collective security through NATO.
- We need the feeling of unlimited development opportunities. Every Ukrainian should have the chance to thrive, and this depends on the post-war recovery process. Much is discussed in the West about rebuilding and recovery, but we must acknowledge a crucial point: will recovery be feasible without security? Will investors be willing to invest in a country where another war could break out at any moment? The truth is, they will not. No investor will commit to long-term investments in a country lacking security guarantees. Thus, feeling a sense of development is impossible without ensuring safety. There are no long-term prospects for Ukraine without security guarantees.
- Each Ukrainian desires to feel at home – this means being in the places where we were born, where we grew up, where our parents are buried, and where our children live. We want to live in peace and quiet, in places that truly feel like home.
I am not here to criticize the West or NATO; on the contrary, I am deeply grateful to the collective West and NATO, especially to the people in those countries who have supported and continue to support Ukraine in our fight.
I understand that no one is indebted to Ukraine, even regarding the Budapest Memorandum. We are fighting daily for our survival.
I just hope that George Santayana was wrong. As humanity, we hold the destiny of the 21st century in our hands. We must be wise and learn from our past to avoid repeating it in the future.
Editor’s note. The opinions expressed in our Opinion section belong to their authors. Euromaidan Press’ editorial team may or may not share them.
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