On the eve of a summit between Ukraine and the European Union, the parliamentarian underlines, in an interview with the “world”, that his country defends much more than its borders against Moscow. He also looks back on the progress made by kyiv on the way to an EU adherence to NATO.
Interview by FAUSTINE Vincent and Philippe Ricard
The president of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefantchuk, met Emmanuel Macron, Tuesday January 31 in Paris, during an official visit to the strengthening of France’s military aid in Ukraine. In an interview exclusive to the world, he insists on the need to deliver to kyiv tanks and planes and underlines the progress made by his country with a view to membership in the European Union (EU), on the eve of a Summit with European leaders, Thursday 2 and Friday February 3, in the Ukrainian capital.
What do you think of the debates that emerge in the French National Assembly on arms deliveries in Ukraine and ask until ‘Where does France have to support your country?
All those who hesitate to strengthen military support are invited to come to Ukraine. There is no man or politician who visited our country who has not changed her mind.
You have to have a good understanding of things. We may have very in -depth political and philosophical discussions, when a missile destroys in a few seconds a residential building in Dnipro, there is no longer time for debates: you have to find solutions.
Critical voices fear an escalation, which would result in a direct confrontation between the allies of Ukraine and Russia. What do you answer them?
Dear friends, don’t be afraid of a direct confrontation with Russia. He is already there. And it is Ukraine that is on the front line for you.
The question I would ask about this kind of political leaders is whether there is still space for climbing. Today, it is already the most cruel and unjust war since the Second World War. The worst advisers in this kind of situation is fear. This fear gene was torn from the Ukrainian people. We know what we are doing to defend our country and our land. We defend our nation and we are ready to do so to the end, while respecting international rules.
But Ukraine does not make war only for its freedom and its territory. She also defends universal values for the whole world. The life of our daughters and sons is the price to pay for this. We demonstrate to the whole world that direct confrontation is not the most scary, when we understand that we are on the right side. We also destroy the myths that exist on the capacities and the strength of the aggressor, of “great Russia”.
Do you have any indications concerning a new major offensive of Russia?
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