Andriy Yermak

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 2023. Alina Smutko / Reuters

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For Ukraine, December 14 was a tale of two cities. In Brussels, the European Union’s leaders took the historic decision to open talks with Ukraine about joining the organization. For millions of Ukrainians, it was a moment of hope for a brighter future after enduring years of war and hardship. The message was clear: Ukraine belongs at the heart of Europe.

This vision of Ukraine’s future could not have been more different than the one being described by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the same day. Responding to pre-screened questions from journalists and handpicked citizens, Putin insisted during a televised press conference that Russia’s political and military aims had not changed since the beginning of the war.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘We worry that an environmental disaster of great magnitude is looming at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who led the team that developed the world’s first nuclear weapons, quoted from ancient Hindu scriptures to illustrate his conflicting feelings about the forces his science unleashed: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”, he said. In his later years, Oppenheimer longed for a future “without nation states armed for war, and above all, a world without war”.

Yet there’s another kind of loss that Oppenheimer recognised only too clearly in his readings of the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient text he turned to after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Humans now possess the power to destroy the world they live in.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Peace is not just the absence of fighting. So the view of some Western politicians that sitting down at a negotiating table is the first thing that needs to happen before peace can reign in Ukraine is a fundamental error. The war is not just about the indiscriminate killing that Russian forces have visited upon the Ukrainian people (though that is a big and brutal part of it). It is about the destruction of Ukrainian energy and food sources, the destruction of infrastructure, the illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens and much more.

Calling for both sides to talk before Russia admits Ukraine’s very right to exist as a sovereign nation is ridiculous.…  Seguir leyendo »

Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. (Roman Hrytsyna/AP)

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This month, human rights campaigners from Ukraine won the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time in our country’s history. The symbolism of the award was strengthened by the fact it came on Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday.

But for Ukraine, this event was significant for other reasons. Many of our people were upset that the prize was divided into three, with the other winners hailing from Russia and Belarus.

The other two groups are undoubtedly worthy winners; both have fought against tyranny and in support of human rights in their own lands. But they also come from the two aggressor states waging war against Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and John Major sign the Budapest memorandum on 5 December 1994. Photograph: Marcy Nighswander/AP

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In November 1994, Boris Yeltsin wrote to his counterpart, Bill Clinton. The Russian president urged the US and the west to support a “historic Russian-Ukrainian treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership”.

At the time, Yeltsin had forged a close working relationship with Ukraine’s president, Leonid Kuchma. The Russian leader spoke of his desire to “seal a really milestone document” covering “all the concerns of Ukraine, which is fraternal to us”.

Clinton also had reasons for seeking a deal with Kuchma. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, nuclear weapons were scattered throughout the post-Soviet states, with a significant amount in Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

Miembros de la Guardia de Honor honran a Valerii, quien murió durante la invasión rusa de Ucrania, en una ceremonia fúnebre en Kiev, Ucrania, el 8 de marzo de 2022. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

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La resistencia de Ucrania contra la horrible invasión de Rusia ha superado todas las predicciones externas. Muchos en Occidente no comprendían el amor de los ucranianos por su libertad y su democracia. Para nosotros, perder nuestro país sería peor que la muerte. Por eso luchamos, porque la derrota no es una opción.

El presidente Volodímir Zelenski comunicó este mensaje a una sesión conjunta del Congreso de Estados Unidos y de varios parlamentos de toda Europa. También pidió de forma encarecida una mayor asistencia militar y el establecimiento de una zona de exclusión aérea con fines humanitarios, no militares. Muchos países han dado un paso adelante y han proporcionado una asistencia militar y humanitaria crucial.…  Seguir leyendo »

A man holds a Ukrainian flag during the funeral of a fallen soldier in Kyiv on March 8. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

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Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s horrific invasion has exceeded every outside prediction. Many in the West did not understand Ukrainians’ love for their freedom, for their democracy. For us, losing our country would be worse than death. And that’s why we fight — because defeat is not an option.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered this message to a joint session of the U.S. Congress and to parliaments across Europe. He also pleaded for greater military assistance and the establishment of a no-fly zone for humanitarian — not military — purposes. Many countries have stepped up to provide critical military and humanitarian assistance. However, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s clear intention to ramp up the bloodshed, Ukraine still needs more.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Ukrainian soldier during a battle to push Russian forces back from Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

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In launching a war on our country, President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia would “de-Nazify” and free Ukraine. But Ukraine — a nation that lost as many as eight million lives in World War II, a country that has a Jewish president — does not need to be freed from the liberated path it has chosen.

Not since the end of World War II has Europe seen violence and naked territorial ambition at such a scale.

I am writing this appeal from a bunker in the capital, with President Volodymyr Zelensky by my side. For a week, Russian bombs have fallen overhead.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un soldado ucraniano durante una batalla para hacer retroceder a las fuerzas rusas de la segunda ciudad más grande de Ucrania, Járkov. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

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Al lanzar una guerra contra nuestro país, el presidente Vladimir Putin dijo que Rusia “desnazificaría” y liberaría a Ucrania. Pero Ucrania, una nación que perdió hasta ocho millones de vidas en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, un país que tiene un presidente judío, no necesita ser salvada del camino libre que ha elegido.

Desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Europa no había sido testigo de una violencia y descarada ambición territorial a esta escala.

Escribo este llamado desde un búnker en la capital, con el presidente Volodímir Zelenski a mi lado. Durante una semana, las bombas rusas han caído sobre nosotros.…  Seguir leyendo »