Today marks the third year of President Putin’s full-scale invasion, forced on the Ukrainian and Russian people, in clear breach of the UN Charter.
So first of all today, of all days, we pause to remember and honour the victims of this war. Those who have lost their lives, their homes, their futures, their limbs, their childhoods, family members and friends. Millions who have been displaced, tens of thousands who have lost their lives.
They’ve lost schools, playgrounds, farms, churches, hospitals.
While Russian forces have used rape, torture and execution as weapons of war and put nuclear safety at risk.
This is a war that Putin said would take three days.
Three years on, Ukrainians have paid a terrible price.
And the impact of this war is not limited to Ukraine.
Hunger, poverty and energy insecurity have increased worldwide.
So second, as we look forward to peace, let’s be clear, no country wants peace more than Ukraine. Ukraine is more than ready for this war to end.
But there needs to be a lasting and a just peace, with Ukraine’s voice at the heart of any talks.
A peace that is not just a pause in fighting but a peace that leaves Ukraine secure and free from Russian attack. A peace that shows that aggression does not pay. And a peace that ends forever Putin’s imperialist ambitions.
And we have to remember that Putin by contrast, only wants capitulation.
So if Russia is allowed to win, we will live in a world where might is right, where borders can be redrawn by force, where aggressors think they can act with impunity. The consequences for peace and security around the world are dire.
So third then, a lasting peace must come from strength.
Strength and courage that Ukraine has shown abundantly in the last three years.
But that strength and courage needs to be underpinned by robust security agreements from the outset because Putin has repeatedly shown that he will break a weak deal.
He has long denied Ukraine’s right to exist as a free state.
So the UK, with our European partners and the United States, will work closely together for Ukraine and Europe will continue to take responsibility for our continent’s security.
The UK is ready to play a leading role to support Ukraine in its right to self-defence. To support the negotiation and implementation of a peace agreement, a just and lasting peace agreement, which protects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its internationally recognised borders, in line with the UN Charter.
