Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Speech to the International Organization of La Francophonie

The speech made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 20 November 2022.

Dear friends!

Dear leaders!

I want to tell you now about a typical day in our country. Unfortunately, typical… And not through our fault. A day of this week.

Ask yourself: what have you been busy with this Tuesday? What were you worried about? What did you feel?

For Ukraine, this Tuesday is almost a hundred missile strikes. A hundred different missiles against our cities. Against residential buildings. Against enterprises. Against power plants.

Do you know what this missile strike is? It’s more than 20 million people without electricity. Such was the damage to the power system, such was the urgent emergency shutdown. The reactors at two of our nuclear power plants also shut down due to missile damage to the energy industry.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

You all know what a terrible war Russia is waging against Ukraine. You all know how we want to restore peace. All of you could hear what we have to offer for this. The Ukrainian peace formula is very clear, and each of its points has been thoroughly worked out.

Radiation and nuclear safety. Food security. Energy security. Release of all prisoners and deportees. Implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the world order. Withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities. Restoring justice. Countering ecocide. Prevention of escalation. Fixing the end of the war.

Each of these points are specific decisions, what needs to be done for security. Russian aggression will not simply stop – stability and predictability will be restored for everyone in the world. That is why our formula for peace is a formula for peace for the world.

And I suggest to all leaders, to all conscientious countries, to choose the element of the peace formula that you can help us implement.

Ukraine really wants peace. But in order to restore peace, we need support. That is why I am turning to you now.

Ukraine always helps. Dozens of countries in the world, whose security directly depends on cooperation with Ukraine, know this for sure.

This year it was confirmed again. When Russia blocked the Black Sea and our ports, hundreds of millions of people in various countries found themselves on the brink of an acute food crisis. When we managed to restore our exports and return millions of tons of Ukrainian agricultural products to the food market, a sense of stability finally began to appear.

That is why it is so important that we stop Russian aggression. This is not just about our country, which Russia is trying to take over. It’s not just about our land and resources that Russia wants to appropriate.

It’s about something more. About stability for everyone in the world. This is about our common radiation safety – so that not a single Russian missile hits our nuclear power plants. This is about our common energy security – so that the destabilization of energy markets, which Russia uses as a weapon, finally stops. This is about our common food security – so that people have basic food on their tables. Peace in Ukraine is peace for you too.

Today is the 270th day of the full-scale war. Russia used more than 4,700 missiles. Hundreds of our cities are simply burned. Thousands of people died. Hundreds of thousands were forcibly deported to Russia. Millions left Ukraine for other countries, fleeing the war.

We have to stop it. We must stop Russian aggression.

I always say this: the return of peace is possible! But it is possible when everyone in the world understands that no one in the world deserves a single day of terror.

Thank you for your attention!

Thank you for your support!

Glory to Ukraine!