On 21 February 2017 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij addressed a meeting of the NATO Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee with political advisors and deputy heads of missions on the topic of support for Ukraine in the war against Russian aggression.
The UWC President focused attention on the work of the UWC in defence of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including its cooperation with NATO in the framework of the UWC humanitarian initiative Patriot Defence with respect to improving tactical medicine in Ukraine and providing the defenders of Ukraine with NATO standard Improved First Aid Kits.
Eugene Czolij highlighted that it is in the best interest of the West to assist Ukraine in defending its borders from the aggression of the Russian Federation which, with the illegal occupation of Crimea and military actions in Eastern Ukraine, has created a crisis of international proportion that poses a serious threat for not only Ukraine, but global peace and security. The UWC President emphasized the Russian disinformation campaign which attempts to convince the world that Ukraine is a failed state, and he noted the significant reforms in Ukraine since the Revolution of Dignity.
In his address Eugene Czolij called for a different approach in dealing with violations by the Russian Federation of the Minsk agreements, specifically to set clear deadlines for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian armaments from Ukrainian territory and the deployment of an OSCE police mission to the Donbas region and a monitoring mission to Crimea, and in the event the said deadlines are not met, targeted economic sanctions should be strengthened until full compliance with the Minsk agreements.
Eugene Czolij was accompanied by Acting Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO Yehor Bozhok, Director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels Maryna Iaroshevych and Deputy Director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels Dmytro Panchuk.
“I have faith that the strong will and resolute actions of the international community regarding the violations by the Russian Federation of the Minsk agreements will contribute to stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
