Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Speech to the University Community of Ireland

The speech made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 18 November 2022.

Dear friends!

Mr. Minister, Mr. President, dear students!

I am glad to see you!

While preparing for this meeting, I learned that Russia has recently imposed sanctions against 52 political figures of your country.

And for what? For the fact that your country supports European efforts to end Russian terror and to revive international law.

Of course, the restrictions imposed by Russia do not particularly affect anything. This is more of a propaganda thing, so that on Russian television they can lie that Russia is allegedly capable of something in diplomacy.

But after seeing this message about your 52 politicians, I remembered another number – 52, and a recent one too. And also the one that is related to sanctions.

As you know, the summit of the countries with the largest economies just took place in Indonesia. And the participants of the summit agreed on a joint declaration – exactly 52 points. Quite meaningful – they reflect many existing global problems.

Formally, Russia also supported the declaration, but in reality, it violates most of the things contained in the declaration. And some of the acute global problems that the “twenty” declares to solve are deliberately created by Russia.

That is, after carefully reading these 52 points of the Bali Declaration, you can see why international pressure on Russia, particularly sanctions, should be not only maintained, but also intensified. Russia continues to destroy international relations and people’s lives, and pretends that it is fighting against this destabilization together with everyone.

This is from the fourth point of the declaration: “It is important to uphold international law and the multilateral system that guarantees peace and stability… Today’s era must not be an era of war.”

And this is when Russia mobilized all resources to not only turn our time into a time of war, but to become the largest terrorist state in history.

Point five of the declaration – Russia says that it will allegedly, together with others, take measures to promote energy stability and market stability.

And at the same time, when this summit in Indonesia is still going on, Russia is carrying out a missile attack against our country. Almost a hundred missiles – specifically against the energy sphere. Another missile attack the next day. And not only against power plants, but also against gas production facilities. This is energy stability in Russian.

The thirteenth point of the Bali Declaration is about combating climate change. Russia allegedly confirms the protection of the natural environment, but it has already destroyed almost three million hectares of forests in our country with its aggression! They were burned by shelling. And this is only one of thousands of crimes committed by Russia against the environment.

Point 22 of the declaration – “Countries will make every effort for timely access to vaccines, therapeutic and diagnostic tools.”

And in fact, hundreds of hospitals were destroyed by Russian shelling. In most of the territory occupied by Russia, there is no access to medicine at all. Even to the simplest medicines, to surgical operations, to insulin… And this is in Europe. In 2022.

And this is the case for almost all 52 points of the Bali Declaration. You read and see the scale of Russia’s lies and that it is now the biggest threat to the world.

I will add point 44. It specifically states: “Access to education is a human right and a key tool for inclusive and sustainable economic recovery.”

Do you know how many educational institutions in Ukraine the Russian army destroyed in 9 months of war? 2,719 were shelled, and 332 were completely destroyed. These are universities, schools…

Dear friends!

Russian aggression does not stop for a single day. Just as Russian lies to the world never stop. Therefore, for all this, the international pressure on Russia should not stop for a single day. And this can be done not only by politicians, but also by everyone at their own level.

Of course, new sanctions should be applied against Russia. It is effective. A new European sanctions package is needed. Please defend this need at the pan-European level.

We must be active in spreading the truth about the war and the crises provoked by it. This is something that all of you can definitely do. Please talk about what is happening and find a format convenient for you to support honest media or bloggers who cover global affairs and, in particular, Russian aggression.

And please look for specific projects that can help our defense and our people. The more collective efforts are made, the sooner we will force Russia to leave the territory of Ukraine and fulfill its obligations to the world.

Thank you for your attention!

Thank you for your support, Ireland!

Glory to Ukraine!