A new effort to reach French audience amid the war in Ukraine: in partnership with IFRI the New Europe Center organized today a briefing by Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, for more than 200 opinion leaders from France. 

Key points by the Ambassador:

WEAPONS: Our forces are well trained, but we need ground weapons and weapons to protect the sky. Every country knows what we need now and every country has what we need.

SANCTIONS: Thank you for the courage to introduce an embargo against Russian coal. But the only thing which can have an immediate impact on the Russian economy is gas. 

EU MEMBERSHIP: 

• On the 4th day of war Ukraine signed an application for EU membership. A little bit more than one month has passed and we have made very good progress. For the EU it might be a cosmic speed to produce some result in one month. For my country it’s a snail speed.
• If you have Copenhagen criteria, it’s high time to introduce the 4th criteria, which is security. How can president Macron talk about the European Defense Alliance without President Zelensky? Which country is now doing more for European security?
• 62% of the French population are supporting Ukrainian membership in the EU. Probably your leaders have to be up to the expectations of your population and to support Ukraine to be an official member of the EU.

WORLD WAR III: How can you prevent the world from WWIII? By stopping the aggressor here by collective efforts or by convincing Russian leadership. As simple as that. This is the only way out.

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS OF WAR: The war itself will have a global impact on the world economy and food security. Ukraine is a breadbasket for the whole world.

The recording is available here.