[as translated from the Ukrainian language by the Ukrainian Govt]
Dear Madam President of the Assembly!
Dear attendees!
Ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly!
I am grateful for the invitation to the National Assembly of France and the
opportunity to address you today on behalf of our entire country. I greatly
appreciate the respect for Ukraine and Ukrainians with which you welcome us.
Thank you for that.
Dear France!
These days we honor the bravery of the people and the mutual support of the
nations that won the Battle of Normandy. The ones who won. And it is the victory
that is still being felt on Omaha Beach, where we were yesterday with the
President, with Emmanuel, and other leaders. It is the victorious battle that
people remember there and take pride in being able to follow in the footsteps of
its participants. The warriors who were very different, from different
countries, but equally eager for freedom to prevail. It was precisely such won
battles – here in Normandy, and in Eastern Europe, in the northern seas of our
continent, and in the skies of Britain, in Southern Europe, and in the
underground resistance movements in the countries occupied by the Nazis – that
returned Europe to humanity. Without those battles won, there would be nothing,
there would be no one, there would be no us – Ukraine, France, all free nations.
There would be no free individual in Europe either as a concept or as a
possibility of real freedom.
We all remember what Nazism means. If there had been no victory over Nazism, our
entire continent would have remained a truly dark stain in history. A source of
death for others in the world as well. It was out of those victories – the
victories of free nations 80 years ago – that our Europe was born, a continent
capable of being a source of hope.
Our Europe is the result of the courage of the men and women of that time, all
those who, despite fear, did not submit to evil, who resisted and fought. Our
Europe is the unity that worked then and always works – it always gives
strength. Our Europe is the choice of people at that time to fight the way they
needed to win – to prevent evil from taking over your home.
There was no other motivation for the Allies back then, except to defend their
home and the right of people to be human. Human in the fullest sense of the word
– endowed with freedom, dignity, and rights from birth – equally, so that no one
would consider themselves a master over others and so that everyone could choose
their own path in life. This is our Europe. This is what was secured by
victories 80 years ago. We are grateful for that.
And this is something that will not last forever by itself.
Dear Europeans!
The day before, on the shores of Normandy, where we all remembered World War II
and thanked its victors, there were two simultaneous feelings – the feeling of
joy that the victory was achieved, and the feeling of duty – the duty to achieve
victory. We live in a time when Europe has once again ceased to be a continent
of peace. Unfortunately. And in a time when Nazism is making a comeback.
Unfortunately. When in Europe once again, cities are being completely destroyed
and villages burned. When Europe is once again facing filtration camps,
deportations, and hatred that has become the new Russian cult. When there are
once again attempts to reshape Europe by force and claims that certain peoples
supposedly do not deserve to exist independently.
All of this is now aimed against Ukraine. But it is also for the purpose of
being aimed against others tomorrow. We can even see the order in which the
aggression may go – the Baltic States, Poland, the Balkans, and beyond.
This Russian regime does not recognize borders. Even Europe is not enough for
it. It has already devastated Syria and is causing chaos in the Sahel. It
invests in terror and undermines life wherever it can reach and where it
encounters no resistance. It uses everything to make countries weaker – from
energy resources to food. In the XXI century, it has brought back the entire
arsenal of the past centuries – from naval blockades to the mass abduction of
our people's children from the occupied territory of Ukraine in order to
"re-educate" them into something entirely different, fostering hatred for their
homeland.
And it blackmails the whole world, so that the world is afraid to oppose it in
full. It will find a way to destabilize everyone, destabilize Europe,
destabilize you.
This is what tomorrow may be like. Tomorrow – if Ukraine does not win. This
battle against the Russian invaders is taking place on the land of our Kharkiv
and Donetsk regions, on the border with Russia and on the outskirts of Kherson,
in the underground in Berdyansk, Melitopol and Crimea, in the skies of Ukraine,
in our Black Sea. This battle for Ukraine is as existentially important for
Europe as the battles won by previous generations of Europeans.
This battle is a crossroads. The moment when we can all write history together
now – the way we need it, or we can become victims of history as our enemy
wants.
I emphasize: a common enemy.
We must remember that there is an enemy outside that leaves neither nations nor
literally people in the places it invades. It leaves neither the right to speak,
nor the opportunity for people to choose how to live. It leaves no life. Look at
what Russian control is. These are the scorched, deserted ruins of our cities
and villages. This is a fact. Look at what Putin is turning his own country and
people into. This is the territory of devalued life. It is literally the
opposite side of everything that is valuable to us. The opposite of freedom. The
opposite of equality. The opposite of fraternity. And therefore, the opposite of
Europe. This is anti-Europe. This is what Putin is.
Dear France!
Can Putin win this battle? No, because we have no right to lose.
Can this war die down along the current lines? No, because there are no lines
for evil – either 80 years ago or now.
And if someone tries to draw temporary lines, it will only give a pause before a
new war. It is the same now as it was when evil was unleashing its aggression
against its neighbors in the 1930s. Hitler crossed line after line. Putin is
doing the same.
And if someone tries to draw temporary lines, it will only give a pause before a
new war. Now, it is the same as when evil was expanding its aggression against
neighbors in the 1930s. Hitler crossed line after line. Putin is doing the same.
And when yesterday direct threats against France were voiced from Russia, it
became just another argument in favor of our courage – so that no evil in the
world has the audacity to oppose France and declare the French as military
targets.
Can we win this battle? Undoubtedly, yes. We can! Ukraine, and therefore Europe.
Europe, and therefore France. I am as sure of this as France believed in freedom
even before D-Day. But that D-Day, like the day of the European victory, was
inevitable.
The first time I had the honor of addressing you was at a moment that was
extremely difficult, deadly difficult for us. It’s true. It was the first month
after the Russian invasion began. The occupiers had not yet been driven out from
the outskirts of our capital, Kyiv, and battles were raging near it. At that
time, the first operations to reclaim the land occupied by Russia, to reclaim
our homes, to bring back our people, our children, had not yet taken place – we
had not yet planned the liberation of Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea and the
victory in the battle for the sea, the liberation of the Kharkiv region and the
city of Kherson. At that moment, the world had not yet seen Bucha and did not
yet fully understand what Russian occupation meant. And no one believed how
effective Ukrainians could become.
But even then, we knew, and we knew for sure, that we would overcome any
difficulties of the war, and the only thing that was necessary for that was that
the Ukrainians were not left on their own. We needed to have effective support –
constant, timely, long-range enough, and leader-led support – and then we would
be guaranteed to do our job, and that would be the proof – the proof that Europe
would not go back to the days when it was impossible to end the war in Europe in
a way that met the interests of Europe and the world, and therefore of every
human being on earth, without landing Allies on the continent and without
involving almost the entire world.
Je vous remercie d'être à nos côtés pour défendre la vie. Merci.
I would like to thank you all that France did not hesitate and chose the side of
humanity in this war. The side of culture. The side of international law. Since
the first hours, not even days, but hours of this attack, with which Russia
tried to wipe out 80 years of Europe, I have known that I can rely on you, on
France – on your hearts and your principled position. Thank you. The feeling
that Ukraine is standing up to evil united many people, many people in France.
Families from France helped families from Ukraine who were saving themselves
from the war. Hearts in France wished us strength. I am grateful for that. Thank
you to your people, your families.
We can rely on your support. On your weapons, on your training and diplomacy, on
France's political and economic power. French air defense systems and armored
vehicles, missiles and artillery, experience and expertise are already helping
us save lives and deter Russia, thanks to you.
I am sure that the day will come when Ukraine will be able to see in its skies
the same planes that we saw yesterday in the skies of Normandy. French combat
aircraft – brilliant fighter jets that, under the control of Ukrainian pilots,
will prove that Europe is stronger. Stronger than the evil that dared to
threaten Europe. Now, just as 80 years ago, we can prove it – the power of our
unity, the power of the alliance, the power of our shared ideals.
Emmanuel, Mr. President, thank you for not leaving Europe without leadership and
Ukraine without France at the most crucial moments. We are doing our best to
ensure that in 80 years our cooperation will be remembered as a victorious
battle. This is so important.
Thank you, Emmanuel!
Now I would like to give special recognition to each of you, dear members of the
National Assembly. You have recently endorsed our security agreement between
Ukraine and France. You were followed by the French Senate, which has also
endorsed the agreement. This is a special document – it is the root of the
alliance between our countries. Thank you for this, for your historic support,
thank you for your foresight! Thank you for supporting our movement towards EU
membership and for understanding that NATO's eastern border cannot have a gap of
a gray zone of Ukraine left outside the Alliance.
Ukraine is the key to the security of the entire Europe. Without control of
Ukraine, Russia will have to become a normal nation-state. And not a colonial
empire constantly seeking new prey – whether in Europe, Asia, or Africa.
Dear friends!
Practically in one week, we will have our new D-Day – Diplomacy Day. The
inaugural Peace Summit, which may become the format that will bring a just end
to this war closer. We have never relied on the power of arms alone. We were
always focused on diplomacy. Putin rejected a diplomatic solution by launching a
full-scale war and choosing an attempted genocide of Ukrainians over dialogue
with Ukraine. That is his choice. And we need the unity of the world to overcome
it. This is a lot of work, really – a lot of effort that is required from
countries on all continents.
Not only from Europe. And that is why we are uniting. More than one hundred
states and international organizations have already supported the Peace Summit.
Unfortunately, not all those on whom the world depends have joined us yet. But
France is with us, and for that I am grateful. I am grateful for the many things
you are already doing. But peace – a just peace – still requires more. And this
is not a reproach. This is the way to overcome evil.
We must do more today than we did yesterday, so that tomorrow we will be closer
to peace than ever before. Together, we are succeeding in this.
Merci pour votre alliance!
Thank you for your attention!
Thank you for your support!
Glory
to Ukraine!
Original Text Source: president.gov.ua/en
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