Embassy of Ukraine against Radev: His findings serve the interests of the aggressor state

Olesya Ilashchuk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria

“Messages like today’s from President Rumen Radev, according to whom Ukraine’s counteroffensive is the biggest strategic mistake, serve the “aggressor state”. this is says in a statement by the Embassy of Ukraine on “Facebook”.

“The Embassy of Ukraine notes with great disappointment that such messages do not support diplomacy, but rather serve the interests of the aggressor state,” the statement said, after Radev told a conference organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation that Ukraine should have a seat at the table for negotiations when it was on the rise before the counter-offensive.

Here is the full text of the diplomatic mission’s position:

In connection with inquiries from representatives of the Bulgarian mass media regarding the statements of the Bulgarian head of state regarding the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Embassy of Ukraine notes with great disappointment that such messages do not support diplomacy, but rather serve the interests of the aggressor state.

The military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine began almost 10 years ago, in February 2014.

Today is the 635th day of Russia’s full-scale war, and Ukrainian citizens are heroically fighting against the aggressor and defending their freedom.

All previous attempts at a peaceful and diplomatic settlement, with the signing of the Minsk Agreements-1 and Minsk Agreements-2, instead of fulfilling their main objective, actually allowed Russia to prepare for a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Instead of peace and de-escalation as a result of the diplomatic understanding with the terrorist state, this period saw the outbreak of the worst and most destructive war in Europe since the Second World War.

Sitting at the table with an aggressor who comes with the aim of destroying, obliterating Ukrainian statehood, committing systematic genocide against the Ukrainian people in front of the eyes of the civilized world in the 21st century is an impossible option.

Until Russia returns to respecting the international legal order, until it withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine within the state and internationally recognized borders of 1991, there will be no peace in Europe.

Calls for peace and negotiations do not yield results in the face of terrorists encouraged by the Russian political leadership to mass murder civilians.

It is important to emphasize that the liberation and protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity is the duty of the state and its armed forces, which is defined in the constitution of every modern democratic state.

After the almost hundreds of thousands of registered crimes in Ukraine as evidence before the International Criminal Court, after the violation of all the norms of conducting war, after the nuclear blackmail, peace can and must be achieved exclusively and only under the conditions provided for in the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine and supported by the international community.