PRAVEDNYK: Lasting peace possible in Ukraine with global support

In my country, Ukraine, on August 24 we commemorate the Independence Day.

And at this point in our history, the question of our independence as a nation is at the forefront of the minds of all Ukrainians.

Allow me to explain:

I have now served my country as the Ambassador of Ukraine to Kenya for about five and a half years, having arrived here on November 7, 2018.

This is an unusually long time for any ambassador to serve in any one post. But in my case the reason behind it is understandable: in February 2022, after my first three and a half years here in Nairobi, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of my country.

And so, like other Ukrainian ambassadors around the world, I was asked to continue serving in the country I was already in when the invasion took place, in order that I may use my experience of the country to effectively convey to Kenyans, Russia’s evil intentions towards Ukraine.

Mind you, Russian aggression against Ukraine did not begin in 2022. Back in 2014, Russian troops had already moved in to occupy the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

Many in the international community back then assumed that this was the limit of Russian aggression, and that the rest of Ukraine would be allowed to pursue its goals as an independent nation in peace. But many of us in Ukraine knew better.

So even though my first few years in Kenya were very pleasant and not dominated by the prospect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the back of my mind I knew that we Ukrainians could not trust Russia.

I have been asked just two basic questions by most Kenyans whom I have interacted with since the Russian full-scale invasion of my country: first, what are you fighting over, since you were once part of the same country?

And second, should you not find a way to make peace with Russia, which has a much bigger army and an army which is much better equipped.

I thought this day – our Independence Day – would be the right opportunity to give an answer to these questions to the Kenyan public by courtesy of your free and vibrant press.

About why Ukraine is not and has never willingly been a part of Russia, I could spend the whole day explaining the facts and the reality of this matter.

For now, I will limit myself to Ukraine’s recent history as an independent country:

During Soviet times there were 15 Soviet republics, and all decisions made by any of them had to be approved by Moscow. That meant that we were not truly independent. Moreover, Soviet authorities conducted the extensive policy of 'russification.'

Striving for many years to get rid of the Soviet yoke and end Moscow's rule in Ukraine, on August 24, 1991, the Parliament of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic declared Ukraine as an independent state. It is worth mentioning that democratic values are deeply rooted in Ukrainian’s political culture. Therefore, Parliament’s decision had to be confirmed by a referendum. This was held on December 1, 1991, and more than 94 percent of Ukrainians cast their votes in favour of our independence.

We have our own Ukrainian language; our own Ukrainian culture; and our own Ukrainian history going back more than 1,000 years.

What Russia seeks to achieve through its ongoing ruthless and unprovoked aggression, is the complete eradication of the Ukrainian identity: to make our future generations forget their history and even their language.

That is why in the temporarily occupied regions, the Russian occupation authorities offer Russian citizenship to my compatriots as a precondition for being allowed to continue with their daily life.

It is also why Russia has kidnapped and taken to various locations deep within Russia, no less than 20,000 Ukrainian children, who have then been given to Russian families through a forcible deportation and illegal adoption process. This has led to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his so-called Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, being indicted by the International Criminal Court on March 17 last year. 

Arrest warrants for war crimes in Ukraine, have been issued for both of them, by the court at The Hague.

In the course of the war itself, the Russian military has focused its efforts on civilian centres of residence and civilian infrastructure like water supply systems and power generation infrastructure, with the intention of making ordinary Ukrainians suffer and thus break their will to resist Russian occupation of their country.

Now I turn briefly to the question of the prospect for an end to this war, and a return to peaceful coexistence:

On this I would say that there are several initiatives being carried out concurrently.

First there has been a Peace Summit, hosted by Switzerland from July 15 to 16, at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which took place at the Swiss resort of Burgenstock.

Representatives from 92 nations and eight international organisations attended the Summit.

The Joint Communiqué on a Peace Framework became the final statement of the summit and was supported by the majority of participants.

In the Joint Communiqué, the signees declared that they agreed to take concrete steps on three themes of the Ukrainian Peace Formula:

Firstly, any use of nuclear energy and nuclear installations must be safe, secured, safe-guarded and environmentally sound. Ukrainian nuclear power plants and installations, including Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, must operate safely and securely under full sovereign control of Ukraine and in line with IAEA principles and under its supervision.

Secondly, global food security depends on uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of food products. In this regard, free, full and safe commercial navigation, as well as access to seaports in the Black and Azov Seas, are critical. Attacks on merchant ships in ports and along the entire route, as well as against civilian ports and civilian port infrastructure, are unacceptable. Food security must not be weaponised in any way. Ukrainian agricultural products should be securely and freely provided to interested third countries.

Thirdly, all prisoners of war must be released by complete exchange. All deported and unlawfully displaced Ukrainian children, and all other Ukrainian civilians who were unlawfully detained, must be returned to Ukraine.

And on this I must express my personal thanks to President William Ruto who took time off his very busy schedule to attend this summit, and used the opportunity declare his support for Ukraine’s right to sovereign control of the areas within its internationally recognised border.

Then there was a meeting between the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, which aimed at discussing among other issues the prospects for peace in Ukraine and ways to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has signalled it would like China to attend a Second Peace Summit focusing on a Peace plan offered by Kyiv.

From my country’s viewpoint, peace will only be possible if the entire international community, including the countries of the Global South, together with Ukraine, will continue to work on the establishment of lasting peace in Ukraine based on Ukraine's Peace Formula.

So as my country marks its Independence Day, I thank all Kenyans who have stood by us in solidarity, determined not to allow a new age of naked aggression to return to our world; and to support the continuation and establishment of the rule of law in the relationships between nations.

Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Kenya