Toespraak van Zelensky voor de Russische bevolking.

[parcifal]

Groot Respect voor President Zelensky van Oekraiene die onder de moeilijkst mogelijke omstandigheden blijk geeft van vastberadenheid en dapperheid.

Vergelijk zijn speech, in het Russisch op de vooravond van de Russische invasie met het van haat, woede en leugens druipende geraaskal van de neo-fascist in Moskou :



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-zilnPtZ2M

Great people of a great country! As I promised, I will be speaking briefly and sincerely. Today, we have strengthened the defense capabilities and resilience of our state.

To cover the backs of our soldiers who are protecting us, we have introduced a state of emergency for 30 days on the entire territory of Ukraine. This decision was supported by 335 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada [the Ukrainian parliament]. A great defense coalition has started working.

The Verkhovna Rada also adopted a package of measures on additional resources to finance the defense sector. Tomorrow, all the deputies of the Rada will go to the regions to support our people. Our international partners are maximally mobilized to support Ukraine. We managed to persuade them to impose preventive sanctions. Yesterday, the United States introduced an additional package of sanctions against Russia. Today, the United States introduced sanctions against Nord Stream 2. A package with personal and economic sanctions against Russia was approved by the European Union. New sanctions were introduced by the governments of Japan and Australia. Today, I spoke to the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. He assured me that his country is also preparing a package of sanctions.

Today, I met in Kyiv with the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and the president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda. As a result of the meeting, we signed a joint statement. It states that our Polish and Lithuanian friends will support granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. Today, we called on the U.N. General Assembly to take concrete actions by sending an international peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. I met with the representatives of major Ukrainian businesses. We agreed: they are all in Ukraine—thank you—along with their teams. They are working to protect Ukraine. We agree with all the political forces that in the near future, the Verkhovna Rada must approve a package of economic laws—“Economic patriotism.”

Thank you to everyone who is helping Ukraine. Let us keep working!

[Zelenskyy switches from Ukrainian to Russian.] And further in Russian. Today, I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian Federation. The result was silence. Although there should really be silence in the Donbas.

This is why I want to appeal today to all the citizens of Russia. Not as president. I am appealing to Russian citizens as a citizen of Ukraine.

We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of a shared border. Today, your forces stand along that border, almost 200,000 soldiers and thousands of military vehicles. Your leadership approved their step forward into the territory of another country. And this step could become the beginning of a large war on the European continent.

Today, the whole world talks about what could happen any day now. A reason could arise at any moment. Any provocation. Any spark. A spark, which could burn down everything. You are told that this flame will bring liberation to the people of Ukraine. But the Ukrainian people are free. We remember our past, and we are building our future ourselves. Building, not destroying, as you are told every day on the television. Ukraine in your news and Ukraine in real life are two completely different countries. And the main difference is that ours is real.

You are told that we are Nazis. But how can a people who gave more than eight million lives for the victory over Nazism support Nazism? How could I be a Nazi? Tell that to my grandfather, who went through the entire war in the infantry of the Soviet Army and died as a colonel in independent Ukraine.

You are told that we hate Russian culture. How is it possible to hate culture? Any culture? Neighbors always enrich one another culturally. However, this does not make them a single entity. This does not dissolve us in you. We are different. But this is not a reason to be enemies.

We want to define and build our history ourselves. Peacefully. Calmly. Honestly.

You are told that I will order an attack on the Donbas, to shoot and bomb without questions. Although there are questions, and very simple ones. Shoot at whom? Bomb what? Donetsk, where I have been dozens of times? Where I have seen people’s eyes and faces? Artyom street, where I walked with friends? Donbas Arena, where I rooted with the locals for our Ukrainian guys at the Euro [the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship]? Sherbakova Park, where we drank together when our guys lost? Luhansk? The home where my best friend’s mother lives? The place where my best friend’s father is buried?

Note that I am speaking right now in Russian, but no one in Russia knows what I am speaking about. These names, these streets, these last names, these events—this is all alien to you. Unfamiliar. This is our land. This is our history. What will you fight for? And with whom?

Many of you have been to Ukraine. Many of you have relatives in Ukraine. Some of you studied in Ukrainian universities, befriended Ukrainian people. You know our character. You know our people. You know our principles. You are aware of what we cherish. So please listen to yourselves. To the voice of reason. To common sense.

Hear us. The people of Ukraine want peace. The Ukrainian authorities want peace. We want it, and we make it. We do everything we can.

We are not alone. Many countries support Ukraine in this.

Why?

Because we are not talking about peace at any cost. We are talking about both peace and principles. About justice. About international law. About the right to self to self-determination, the right to determine your own future, every society’s right to security, and every person’s right to live without threats. This is all important for us. This is all important for the world. I know for certain that this is also important for you.

We know for certain: we don’t need war, neither cold, nor hot, nor hybrid. But if forces attack us, if someone tries to take away our country, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children—we will defend ourselves. Not attack. Defend ourselves. While attacking, you will see our faces. Not our backs. Our faces.

War is a huge calamity, and this calamity carries a huge cost. In every meaning of this word. People lose money, reputation, quality of life. They lose freedom. But most importantly, people lose their loved ones. They lose themselves. In war, there is a lack of everything. That which there is an abundance of—pain, filth, blood and death. Thousands and tens of thousands of dead.

You say that Ukraine could present a threat to Russia. This was not the case in the past, not now, and will not be the case in the future. You demand security guarantees from NATO. And we demand guarantees for our security, for the security of Ukraine—from you, from Russia, and from the other guarantors of the Budapest Memorandum.

Today, we find ourselves outside of any defensive alliances. The security of Ukraine is connected to the security of our neighbors. This is why, today, it is necessary to talk about the security of all of Europe. But our main goal is peace in Ukraine and the security of our citizens—Ukrainians. To achieve this, we are prepared to speak about this with everyone, including with you, in different formats and on any platforms.

War deprives everyone of guarantees. There will no longer be any security guarantees for anyone. Who will suffer the most from this? People. Who does not want this more than anyone? People. Who can prevent this? People.

Are these people present among you? I am sure there are. Public figures, journalists, musicians, actors, athletes, scientists, doctors, bloggers, stand-up comedians, Tik-Tokers and many more. Regular people. Regular, normal people. Men, women, the elderly, children, fathers, and most importantly, mothers. Just like people in Ukraine. Just like the authorities in Ukraine, no matter how much they try to convince you otherwise.

I know that they will not show this appeal of mine on Russian television. But the citizens of Russia must see it. They must know the truth. And the truth is that this needs to stop, before it is too late. And if the Russian leadership does not want to sit down at the table with us for the sake of peace, then perhaps, they will sit down at the table with you.

Do Russians want war? I would very much like to answer this question. But the answer depends only on you, the citizens of the Russian Federation.

[Zelenskyy switches back to Ukrainian.] Thank you for your attention.

[gertc]

Inderdaad een mooie speech.

[Blue Sky]

He's dead anyways.

[parcifal]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Blue Sky

He's dead anyways.

Hij vlucht niet, dat is belangrijk.
Dat hij of zijn familie kunnen sterven, redelijk waarschijnlijk zelfs, weet hij en dat weet iedereen, daarom dat hij eeuwig respect verdient.

Terwijl de hond Poetin hopelijk in een anoniem graf zal belanden ergens nabij de afvoer van een varkensbedrijf.