Urgent appeal from Ukrainian civil society representatives to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, on the eve of his meeting with the Russian president

December 6, 2021

 

URGENT APPEAL FROM UKRAINIAN CIVIL SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, JOE BIDEN, ON THE EVE OF HIS MEETING WITH THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

 

JOE BIDEN

 

Dear Mr. President,

On December 7, 2021, a video conference will be held between the Presidents of the United States and Russia. The "question of Ukraine" was announced as one of the cornerstone issues for discussion. Over the past few weeks, US officials have spoken out on ways to resolve the threat of armed confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. Because of the seriousness of recent developments, Ukrainians are paying special attention to this meeting.

Over the past eight years, the Kremlin leadership has taken considerable visible and covert measures to convince the world of Putin's real intentions to revive the Soviet Evil Empire. This policy is being implemented on the territory of Russia itself, against the civil and human rights of indigenous peoples, as well as against other sovereign states and international organizations. It would be superfluous to list all the aggressive criminal actions perpetrated by Putin and his entourage, be it poisonings, targeted assassinations, artificial migrant crises, or war, all of which threaten the stability and lives of millions in Europe and around the world. The Kremlin is cynically seizing foreign territories, interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states, exporting terrorism, engaging in cyberterrorism, destroying the environment, and using illicit weapons against civilians.

Ukrainians feel the consequences of this criminal activity in their daily lives. Russia's ongoing armed aggression against Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee their homes. Every day, fighting inflicts injuries and deaths, the regime of occupation systematically violates the rights of the local population, and more and more hostages are taken prisoners.

We hope that the representatives of your Administration are aware of all these facts, because recently, in a letter from Ukrainian journalist Oleksii Bessarabov, who has been languishing in a Russian prison for six years, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken assured him and other Ukrainian hostages that "the United States of America has not forgotten about you and dozens of your unjustly convicted fellow citizens."

Eight years of Russia's active confrontation with Ukraine and the West have been enough to prove that each attempt "to listen to the Kremlin" has led to another escalation, not a reduction in tensions. Evidence of this is Washington's review of the Nord Stream 2 sanctions regime. In response, Moscow did not hesitate to "thank you". Europe's gas market immediately suffered an artificial crisis, due to deliberate manipulation by the Russians. Russia has continued to actively take over Belarus, and with Lukashenko's hands, it is terrorizing the countries of the Free World, either by organized delivery of "migrants" to the border or by systematic threats. In fact, it was in response to the easing of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 that Russia began to draw a huge number of weapons and military into Ukraine's borders.

Moscow has always regarded any concessions as a sign of weakness. We, Ukrainians, can confirm this long-proven axiom. Therefore, we assure you that #UkrainiansWillResist to successfully win the war for the sake of their freedom and sovereignty. Regular opinion polls in Ukraine and Europe show that Ukrainians have one of the highest rates of readiness on the continent to fight for their country with weapons in hand. The Summits for Democracy initiated by you are a good idea for the solidarity and consolidation of the world’s democracies in the face of rising autocracies. However, now democracy not only needs a summit, but, above all, protection.

We believe that during your talks with Putin, you will adhere to a guiding principle: no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. Mutual trust and partnership relations between our countries are based on this position. At this juncture in time, we express our deep gratitude to all the American people for their continued and consistent support for our state. We believe that by working together we are nearing the moment of Ukraine's accession to full membership in NATO.

We also want to emphasize that the implementation of the Minsk agreements under Russia's dictatorship cannot be a way to a peaceful settlement. Since 2015, public opinion polls have consistently shown that most Ukrainians do not support the provisions of these agreements. Attempts to limit Ukraine's sovereignty through the implementation of the Minsk agreements will have catastrophic consequences for the security of the whole Europe. The solution to the current crisis should be sought through coercive and severe punitive measures, not aimed at the victim of aggression, but through a coalition of international pressure on Russia as a systematic violator of international law and order and through immediate, enhanced military support for Ukraine.

Yesterday, marked the anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, which sadly failed to protect a nuclear-free Ukraine from an attack on its sovereignty. Today, countries like Iran, are carefully watching developments in Ukraine. They will view the failure to stand up for Ukraine as green light for bad behavior by other rogue nations. If the US and its European partners fail to protect Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, if Russia is not stopped, the West will have shown the world that international agreements are pointless and peace-loving nations, like Ukraine, cannot count on their Western partners.

We are convinced that the struggle of the Ukrainian people against Eastern despotism at the vanguard of Western civilization deserves deep respect and comprehensive support. The United States and Ukraine must act in the spirit of the renewed Strategic Partnership Charter. We assure you that the Ukrainian people, along with our free Eastern European neighbors, are, and will remain, a reliable ally of the United States in the struggle for freedom, democracy, international stability, and prosperity.

 

Most respectfully,

The representatives of

Ukrainian civil society

Solomiia Bobrovska, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Halyna Vasylchenko, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Yulia Klymenko, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Iryna Gerashchenko, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Mariia Ionova, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Iryna Friz, Member of Parliament of IX convocation

Josef Zissels, Kyiv, former political prisoner, First of December Initiative Group

Volodymyr Vasylenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine

Hanna Hopko, Head of ANTS Network, PhD in Social Communication

Myroslav Marynovych, Lviv, former political prisoner, UCU Vice-Rector, First of December Initiative Group

Mykhailo Gonchar, President of CGS Strategy XXI

Serhiy Kvit, Professor of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejilis of the Crimean Tatar People

Roman Bezsmertnyi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine

Olena Styazhkina, historian, writer

Volodymyr Ohryzko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine in 2007-2009

Ihor Kozlovsky, President of the Center for Religious Studies and International Spiritual Relations, Senior Research Fellow at Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, First of December Initiative Group

Olya Hnatyuk, Kyiv, Vice-President of the Ukrainian PEN Center, Professor of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the University of Warsaw, First of December Initiative Group

Mykola Horbal, Kyiv, poet, former political prisoner

Taras Voznyak, Editor of NGO Magazine Ї

Yevhen Zakharov, Human Rights Defender, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, Member of the Board of the Memorial International Society, First of December Initiative Group

Anatoliy Podolsky, Ph.D., head of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, leading researcher at the Kuras Institute for Political and Ethnonational Studies, NAS of Ukraine

Agiya Zagrebelska, Founder of Antitrust League

Ostap Kryvdyk, Analyst at AC UCU, Ukrainian strategic initiative

Oleksandr Khara, Fellow of Centre of Defence Strategies

Yaroslav Yatskiv, Kyiv, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, First of December Initiative Group

Walter Zaryckyj, PhD, Executive Director Center for US-Ukrainian Relations

Andriy Lyubka, PEN Ukraine member

Andrii Teteruk, Member of Parliament of VIII convocation

Victoria Voytsitska, Member of the Parliament of VIII convocation

Oleksiy Garan, Kyiv, Professor of Political Science, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Scientific Director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation

Heorhii Tuka, public figure, volunteer

Mykola Hryckowian, President of Organization for the Defense of the Four Freedoms of Ukraine (ODFFU)

Ihor Lapin, Russo-Ukrainian war veteran, human rights activist, member of parliament of VIII convocation, co-coordinator of Resistance to Capitulation Movement

Andrii Yusov, Director of "School of responsible politics"

Andrii Levus, Head of Oversight council Ukranian strategic initiative

Mykhailo Basarab, Political analyst

Borys Babin, Expert at Assosiation of Reintegration of Crimea

Ihor Lutsenko, Member of Parliament of VIII convocation

Yevhen Mahda, Executive director at Institute of World Policy

Anatoliy Dnistrovyi, author, board member at PEN Ukraine

Volodymyr Horbach, Political analyst at Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation

Ihor Koliushko, Head of the Board at Centre for Policy and Legal Reform

Yuriy Lutsenko, Kyiv, public figure, former political prisoner

Ivan Vasyunyk, Kyiv, statesman and public figure

Viktor Taran, CEO at “Digital reputation”

Illia Kononov, Spokesman of Resistance to Capitulation Movement

Vitalii Bala, Director at Agency for Situation Modelling

Larysa Volovyk, President / Founder of the Kharkiv Holocaust Museum Public Organization

Ostap Yednak, Board member at National Interests Advocacy Network ANTS

Myroslav Hai, Foundation Mir&Co, co-coordinator of Resistance to Capitulation Movement

Alfiya Shevchenko, Kyiv, Congress of Ethnic Communities of Ukraine

Taras Stetskiv, Member of Ukrainian Parliament in 1990-2006, 2007-2012

Borys Potapenko, Member of LUC/ODFFU

Volodymyr Kurennoy, Member of Parliament of V, Vll and VIII convocations, Freedom and Democracy Foundation

Yuriy Pidlisnyy, Chair of the political science department at  Ukrainian Catholic University

Vladyslav Golub, Member of the Parliament of VII convocation

Yuriy Goncharenko, Vice-president of Foundation for democracy assistance

Bronislav Tutelman, Chernivtsi, artist, Honored Artist of Ukraine

Anatoliy Tkachuk, Director for science and development at Civil Sosiety Institute

Pavlo Rizanenko, Member of Parliament of VII and VIII convocations

Zoya Kazanzhy, Strategic consultant at Communication consulting E`COMM

Tetyana Pastushenko, Kyiv, senior researcher at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Borys Zakharov, Kyiv, Director of the "Lyudyna i Pravo" Charitable Foundation

Yevhen Bystrytsky, Head of Election Council UA

Mykola Kushnir, Chernivtsi, historian, director of the Jewish Museum

Serhii Savchenko, Head of Center for Analytical Studies and Countering Hybrid Threats

Leonid Kozachenko, Chairman of the Council at Enterpreneurs Council at the Government of Ukraine

Vitaliy Kolomiets, lawer at «OK Legal» law firm

Oleksii Mushak, Member of Parliament 2014-2019, economic adviser to the Prime Minister 2019-2020

Ashot Topchian, Director of Ukrainian strategic initiative

Petro Kiyan, Co-coordinator of Pravotvorets initiative

Anatoii Lutsenko, CEO of GMT GROUP

Halyna Kharaz, Kyiv, Vaad of Ukraine

Ihor Markov, Senior Research fellow at Institute of Ethnology of National Academy of Sciences

Pavlo Podobied, Chairman of the Board at The charitable foundation “Heroyika”

Olexander Shyrshyn, Chernivtsi, Chairman of the "UA group" Public Organization

Oleh Yaskiv, Vice-rector for Science at Ukrainian Catholic University

Artem Myrhorodskyi, СЕО at «GreenAge»

Sergiy Shtepa, Professor  at National Aviation University

Kateryna Musiienko, APA at European Parliament

Ruslana Potapenko, PhD at Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav

Taras Plakhtiy, Independent researcher of political parties

Sergiy Parkhomenko, Director of O.Nykonorov Centre of Foreign Policy Studies OPAD

Lyubov Krupnyk, Kyiv, researcher, UINM

Serhii Repik, Head of NGO "YNC"

Dariia Taran, CEO at NGO “Result”

Ruslan Rokhov, Managing partner of PGR Consulting Group LLC

Zoya Garkavenko, President of ACADEMY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Yohanan Petrovsky-Stern, Chicago, Professor of History

Bohdan Pankevych, Head of the Department at NGO Ukrainian Galicijan Assembly

Petro Makovskyi, Head of Board of Directors of Credit union "Vyhoda"

Pavlo Bilous, co-coordinator of Resistance to Capitulation Movement

Pavlo Zhovnirenko, Head of the Board at NGO CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES

Roman Kulyk, researcher, UINM

Oleksiy Borovskiy, Associate Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Roman Sohn, Chairman at Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine

Ariana Gic, Director of Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine

Sviatoslav Litynskyi, Director of NGO Nezalezni

Oleksandr Yabchanka, teacher at Ukrainian Catholic University

Alina Maiorova, Executive Director of Security Environment Research Center “Prometheus”

Mykola Saveliev, Editor in Chief at Newspaper "Ratusha"

Svitlana Blagodietielieva-Vovk, Head of the Council at NGO GPES

Oleksander Sosnytskyi, entrepreneur, community leader

Volodymyr Volovodiuk, Chieftain of Vinnytsia Cossack Regiment named after Ivan Bohun

Oleh Leontyev, lawer

Jechiel Fischzon, Jerusalem, poet

Svitlana Kopylova, Kyiv, lawyer

Petro Rykhlo, Chernivtsi, professor of National University of Chernivtsi

Tetyana Khorunzha, Kyiv, editor of the Forum of Nations newspaper

Vyacheslav Perch, Kyiv, lawyer

Kyrylo Danylchenko, Kyiv, Vaad of Ukraine