Ukrainian Civil Society Appeals to U.S. President Ahead of His Talks with Putin

A number of Ukrainian public figures signed an appeal to U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of his online meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Over the past eight years, the Kremlin leadership has taken enough official and covert measures to convince the world of Putin’s real intentions to revive the Soviet Empire of Evil. This policy is being implemented both in the territory of Russia against the civil rights and rights of indigenous peoples and against other sovereign states and international organisations. It will probably be superfluous to list all the known facts of the aggressive criminal actions of Putin and his entourage, which have led to tens of millions of victims in Europe and around the world,” reads the statement.

The signatories of the document believe that the Kremlin is cynically seizing foreign territories, interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states, exporting terrorism, engaging in cyber terrorism, destroying the environment, and using illicit weapons against civilians.

Therefore, Ukrainians have the opportunity to feel the consequences of this criminal activity in their daily lives. Russia’s ongoing armed aggression against Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee their homes. Every day, hostilities bring injuries and deaths, the occupation regime systematically violates the rights of the local population, and more and more people are taken captive.

“We hope that the representatives of your administration are well aware of all these facts because recently U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a letter from Ukrainian journalist Oleksii Bessarabov, who has been in a Russian prison for six years, assuring him and other Ukrainian hostages that “the United States has not forgotten you and dozens of your other unjustly convicted citizens,” reads the appeal to the U.S. President.

Ukrainian public figures underscore that eight years of active confrontation of Russia with Ukraine and the West were enough to understand that each attempt to “hear the Kremlin” led not to a reduction in tensions but to another escalation. Evidence of this is Washington’s review of the Nord Stream 2 sanctions regime. Moscow did not hesitate to “thank” for that. Europe’s gas market immediately suffered an artificial crisis due to deliberate manipulation by the Russians. Russia has continued to actively take over Belarus, and, with Lukashenka’s hands, it is terrorising the countries of the free world, either by organised delivery of “migrants” to the border or by systematic threats. It was in response to the easing of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 that Russia began to pull a huge amount of weapons and military to Ukraine’s borders.

“We believe that during the talks with Putin you will adhere to the principle: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Trusting and partnership relations between our countries are based on this position. On this occasion, we express our deep gratitude to the American people for their continued and consistent support for our state. We believe that by working together we are approaching the moment of Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” the document reads.

Natalia Tolub