Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on world leaders to repair the system of regional security in Europe by ending Russia’s war in the east of Ukraine and returning the Crimean peninsula from Russian occupation at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.
“It’s not entirely correct to say ‘the war in Ukraine.’ This is the war in Europe. And along with the annexation of Crimea, it has lasted as long as World War II. Imagine that,” Zelensky said in a speech at the “Townhall on Ukraine” panel at the conference.
Emphasizing that a new security architecture should be based solely on the norms and principles of international law, Zelensky said that the current international treaties do not protect any nation from the rule of the strongest.
“No documents, no signatories, no memorandums can protect anyone. This is what we tell you as Ukrainians with our example… Honestly, my suggestion to all other countries from our own experience: All of you cannot trust any documents,” Zelensky later told the panel moderator.
Zelensky also said he is perplexed by the fact that the 100-page Munich Security Report released at the conference mentions Ukraine only eight times this year – the lowest number since the start of the war and the occupation of Crimea.
“As the president of the country that is defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity for the sixth year in a row, I have a question: Isn’t it too early for everyone to settle down? This is a dangerous tendency,” Zelensky said in the speech.
Zelensky also noted the conference report’s optimism about resolving the conflict due to the progress made under his presidency: two major prisoner exchanges and a new round of negotiations, such as the Normandy Format meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia in Paris on Dec. 9.
At the same time, Zelensky said that the negotiations failed to provide a comprehensive ceasefire as well as safe and non-stop access to the occupied territories for the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Zelensky said that a new round of troop withdrawals agreed upon at the Paris meeting should take place in three areas along the frontline in March. He also hopes that local elections in the occupied region will take place in October under Ukrainian law and international standards, he added.
At the Ukrainian lunch earlier during the conference, Zelensky also said that Ukraine and Russia “practically agreed” on another exchange that would release 200 Ukrainians.
Pressed by the moderator, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, Zelensky also answered questions about the phone call he had with U.S. President Donald Trump in July, which became the central incident in the impeachment probe against Trump.
“If this way will help Ukraine, I am ready for the next call with Mr. Trump,” Zelensky told Amanpour.
Zelensky also pushed back against Amanpour quoting a Fox News interview in which Trump claimed that Ukraine is known to be the third most corrupt country in the world.
“That’s not true. When I had a meeting with President Trump, and he said that, in previous years, (Ukraine) was such a corrupt country, I told him very honestly and I was very open with him, I told him that we fight corruption. We fight every day,” Zelensky said.
In his public statements, Zelensky did not mention the controversial peace plan for Ukraine presented by a group of European, American and Russian former government officials and experts at the conference. The plan was criticized for “repeating Kremlin talking points” and offering 12 steps toward security in the region which focus on ending the war in the Donbas but ignore the issue of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The Munich Security Conference is an international debate platform that annually gathers experts and political leaders from around the world. It was founded in 1963 as a forum for NATO member countries. The conference traditionally takes place at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany.
During the Ukrainian lunch sponsored by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Munich, Zelensky said Ukraine is getting a bad rap internationally on corruption.
“Today, the head of the state, Ukrainian president, as any president in any country, is not just the face of the country. He or she should set an example of behavior, should become a role model, it is by him or her that other nations will be judging whether a country is corrupt or not. People of Ukraine know pretty well I have never engaged in any corrupt schemes or behaviors…That was the first step for us. That’s why I enjoyed such huge support during the elections. If you look at our team in the government, I don’t see and haven’t seen over the last eight months of our difficult not always very successful but very hard work, I haven’t seen any people from the government engaging in corrupt practices. I would like to calm down those worries and concerns about the level of corruption in Ukraine…The world should revise its attitude towards Ukraine as a corrupt state and should cease talking about it all the time. It’s not grounded well. Of course, we have such challenges. We have observed corruption in law enforcement and other authorities. But we have reset the General Prosecutor’s Office… Now we are reforming the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU…We should set examples so that our people follow suit. If presidents take bribes, then the people think that’s OK. Then the image of the country will be negative. I respect my country. I am sure we’ve got a lot to be proud of, there’s a lot to discuss, except corruption. We will fight it and we will conquer it.”
To Amanpour, on the same subject, he also refuted that Ukraine is the third most corrupt country in the world. “That’s not true,” Zelensky recalled what he told U.S. President Donald J. Trump when talking about the issue. “We fight with corruption. Please stop saying Ukraine is a corrupt country. From today, that’s not the truth.”
