Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Oct 18, 2024
I come here not to criticize the West or NATO. I understand that nobody owes Ukraine anything, even according to the Budapest Memorandum. Ukraine fights for survival every day. I just want Mr. George Santayana to be wrong. That we, humanity, in whose hands the destinies of the 21st century are, be smart and remember our past in order not to repeat it in the future.
I am glad to welcome everyone and thanks for inviting me to such a wonderful place, Chatham House. It is a great honor for me not only to be here, but to be here with you, very intelligent and famous people.
Traditionally I start and end every meeting with my friends and partners with words of gratitude for support. I am thankful that we persevered. I am grateful that we continue to fight. I hope, regardless of the politicians’ weakness, we will continue the fight and get the victory not only for Ukraine but for all civilized world. I am talking about the victory over the plague of this century.
So, dear participants, I apologize, but being in Chatham House, I would like our conversation to be honest. Only honesty will lead us to a correct understanding of the processes taking place. I will say several facts of reality that can be called empirical judgments. But whether they are scientific is up to you, of course.
More at https://lnkd.in/eFhQhqHM
Comment from :
I disagree on “nobody owes Ukraine anything”. It’s the West that reared the ruscism beast by exchanging their s.c. “values” for cheap gas and ability to sell Mercedeses to Russian thug “elite”, it’s the West that blocked Ukraine’s NATO ascension every step of the way (and still does!!), it’s the West that allowed Russia to invade first Georgia in 2008 (and blamed Georgia for that) and then Ukraine in 2014, it’s the West that tolerated all Putin’s shenanigans. It’s specifically due to the West’s cowardly and indecisive response to 2/24 that the war is dragging on instead of having been won already.
“Substance-over-form” is a well known concept in legal and accounting practice, so the West cannot simply hide behind the Budapest Memorandum’s being a “non-ratified piece of paper’. That “piece of paper” was very real for Ukraine that lost its nukes, its bombers and its missiles – the same very bombers and missiles that are killing Ukrainians now. So – yeah, the West owes Ukraine. A lot. Even more the West owes to itself. Because if it doesn’t drop its suicidal fixation on appeasing the aggressor, its own war is not far behind.
Old habits die hard. It is said that General Hague during the Great War would refer to our French Allies as ‘the enemy’. Many Ukrainian politicians and citizens continue to refer to their European neighbours and American friends as ‘the west’.
I am not certain when ‘the west’ was popularised. Stalin certainly used the terminology, and it is strongly associated with Communism. Russia, China and North Korea still all use it today. South Korea and Japan do not.
The Kyiv Rus founded Europe’s largest independent kingdom a thousand years ago. They were allied with British, Danish, and Swedish Kings, and I would encourage Ukrainians to stop using this redundant terminology.
We agreed to provide “security assurances” to Ukraine, and in exchange for the bond of our word, Ukraine gave up its robust nuclear defense. The UN Security Council has become a tool of the main aggressor against Ukraine, and it looks increasingly as if our word to them cannot be trusted. Ukraine has now been put in a position of doing whatever is necessary to restore their security.
I was fortunate to be able to see and hear you speak today at Chatham House, and I was impressed with the urgency and clarity of your message. Thank you for keeping us focused on what matters, for the sake of Ukraine, Europe and the defence of democracy and freedom in general. We are not, and should not aspire to be, spectators who stand by and watch, we need to be actively involved.
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An earlier post from the General:
Today, we’ll discuss military affairs, specifically intelligence. It’s the key to risk management and finding necessary solutions.
Intelligence isn’t just about gathering and processing information on the enemy, terrain, or other targets. It must be integral to forecasting. Couldn’t the reduction in intelligence have led to russia’s so-called expansion of its ‘security space,’ evolving into war against former Soviet republics, and eventually into Europe’s bloodiest war of the 21st century?
Military intelligence serves two purposes: to warn of potential attacks and provide data for strikes. However, it must go deeper, aiming to prevent the need for its main function.
To ‘see the future,’ intelligence needs systematic, deep work as the main source of information, which must come from professionals — not from ‘wandering experts’ or ‘journalists’. These experts must remain unknown, even to their families, as they hold the future.
The link between politics, economics, and war guides us in understanding the enemy’s future capabilities. Comprehensive intelligence on political and economic aspects leads to outcomes on the battlefield.
Wars are increasingly global. Thus, understanding today’s military-political landscape is crucial for intelligence. Is it a secret that China, North Korea, and Iran have allied with russia? If anyone believes they are united only against Ukraine, I would be the first to question that. Intelligence must go global to assess the current geostrategic environment, likely now involving the West. Wars must be pre-empted.
The nature of war has changed— completely. Scientific and technological progress has transformed the rules of engagement, shaping future global security systems. Intelligence in scientific and technical fields will be key in managing technological development. Governments must use these insights to assess how tech changes affect national policy.
ChatGPT, Deep Blue, AlphaGo, Watson—these are peaceful programs. But do you believe such programs don’t exist in warfare? I don’t. In 2023, russia ranked 14th in digital tech, with China at the top. Yet China and russia are already using their technologies in Ukraine. What’s next?
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And this is his first post, from 5 days ago. Welcome General! :-
Life’s journey, education, and the unexpected twists of fate, have allowed me to accumulate a wealth of experience, which ultimately led me to the path of diplomacy.
Back in 1993, when I joined the military service, and in the summer of 2019, as I sat my entrance exams for the university’s Faculty of International Relations, I had no inkling that I would one day become an Ambassador. But having dedicated my life to my homeland, one does not choose one’s fate 🇺🇦
Recently, I had the opportunity to observe a conversation between three highly respected diplomats. Though I was an unintended participant, their discussion prompted me to reflect deeply on the nature of diplomacy as a profession and its broader significance.
One of the speakers mentioned an individual — let’s call him Mr. X — who was fluent in English, highly proficient in French, and had an excellent command of German. “He’s a very good diplomat,” the speaker concluded.
At that very moment, it was as though a jolt of electricity ran through me. Could I, without knowing so many languages, ever become a good diplomat? And is Mr. X, with his remarkable language skills, truly an exceptional diplomat? Or is he, in fact, simply an outstanding philologist? I’ve never shied away from learning, so I will seek the answers here…
The General provides a link to a report on his speech in Ukrainska Pravda. I can’t find an English version, but here’s a link to the English version of this excellent site :
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/