Crime and punishment: how can Russian aggression be stopped?

The 8th Kyiv Security Forum is taking place with the participation of representatives of NATO and politicians and experts from Europe, the United States, and Ukraine. Security issues as well as the political and diplomatic repercussions from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine were presented during the second session of the forum “Democracy Versus Authoritarianism: The Battle Is Not Yours But Ours.”

The session opened with an address delivered by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksander Turchynov. In his speech he asserted that Russia had been getting ready to attack Ukraine since after the Orange Revolution in 2004. War with Russia has brought tremendous losses not only for the companies that are in the occupied zone but for business in all of Ukraine.

Oleksander Turchynov noted that after the Minsk Agreement was signed there was no ceasefire; the attacks have been and continue to be relentless. The terrorists have carried out around 5000 attacks on Ukrainian military positions in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. Also, according to surveys obtained through reconnaissance the quantity of the enemy’s military equipment is increasing without pause not only along the Ukrainian-Russian border but also in the territory controlled by the proxies.

“THE THREAT FROM RUSSIA IS NOT LOCAL, IT IS GLOBAL. THE AGGRESSOR SHOULD NOT BE APPEASED, THE AGGRESSOR SHOULD BE STOPPED.”

James Bezan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defense in Canada remarked that Canada supports Ukraine in all areas and has provided assistance to Ukraine totaling $27 million. Approximately 300,000 military uniforms have been delivered which helped tremendously over the winter months; thermal imagers and other supplies for defensive purposes have been delivered as well. According to James Bezan Canada is closely monitoring the developments in Ukraine. Why? Because, he said, we are family; we’re friends.

“WE BELIEVE PUTIN HAS NO RIGHT TO DICTATE HIS POINT OF VIEW – DICTATORSHIP – TO THE WORLD.”

In his speech, Ryszard Czarnecki, Vice Chairman of the European Parliament and former Minister for European Integration of Poland drew attention to the fact that Poland, like the Baltic nations, is faced with huge problems in cyber security. Enormous energy is being committed for fighting hackers. Ryszard Czarnecki has no doubts that Russian propaganda is alive and well and is working efficiently to replace the truth with lies.

“RUSSIAN AGGRESSION IS NOT JUST MILITARY AGGRESSION, IT IS AGGRESSION VIA PROPAGANDA AS WELL. WE MUST RESPOND.”

Lilia Shevtsova, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in the United States said in her speech that she was a frequent guest in many different forums and expressed confidence that this forum serves as an excellent platform for stark discussions on security. Lilia believes that the main problem for Ukraine and the West is not Putin. The main problem is the system in which Russia exists. Ukraine became a victim of that system. The Russian state has exhausted all its resources for a peaceful existence and has had to move to using its military resources in order to retain political control in the country. The only hope is that the system will someday undergo change and in that respect the biggest hope lies with the elite since they do not want the Russian Federation to become a closed third world country. Unfortunately, in the meantime Ukraine is paying a huge price for freedom.

“COMPROMISE IS A WEAPON FOR THE WEAK; A STRONG RESPONSE CAN DRIVE PUTIN INTO A CAGE.”

All the speakers who took part in the third session of the Kyiv Security Forum are convinced that Russian attempts at reviving the USSR with “Imperial revanchism” must be stopped and isolated both politically and economically.

Ievgen Reznik, EMPR  

EMPR, O. R. contributed to this article