As Trinidad and Tobago was celebrating its 60th anniversary of independence, the people of Ukraine were undergoing its sixth month of its independence being attacked. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN and ambassador of Ukraine to TT (non-resident), said the scale of destruction in Ukraine during this war surpassed the level of World War II. Then, 20,000 citizens of Mariupol, Ukraine were killed, but by the end of spring 2022, over 30,000 had been killed there. In addition, other cities have been or are being destroyed.
In an interview with Sunday Newsday at the Delegation of the European Union to TT, Queen's Park East, Port of Spain, Kyslytsya congratulated TT on its 60th year of independence.
“Independence matters a lot to your country as much as it matters to my country. Ukraine was struggling for independence for centuries. We were incorporated in the Russian empire in the 17th century, and until this century it was non-stop aspiration by the Ukranian nation to become independent.
“The tragic irony is that, this year, on the day of independence, August 24, we also marked exactly six months of the full-scale aggression and invasion of Ukraine.”
Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
He said Russia's war against Ukraine actually started in February 2017, when Russia moved into Crimea, which was internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, tried to illegally annex it, and initiated war in the east of Ukraine.
He said the international reaction to the war in 2022 was very different from the reaction in 2014.
In 2014, 100 nations supported the UN General Assembly resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. On March 2, 2022, 148 countries voted in favour of the resolution that condemned the Russian aggression, while Syria, Belarus, North Korea, and Eritrea supported Russia.
[caption id="attachment_973342" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Children play jumping on destroyed Russian military vehicles displayed in central Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday. - AP Photo[/caption]
“This aggression is seen as aggression on the entire peace-loving, democratic and law-abiding community. Because it is the most egregious violation of the UN Charter since the end of World War II and, in fact, since the creation of the UN.”
Kyslytsya expressed gratitude that TT's leadership chose to uphold the UN’s Charter and support Ukraine, saying it should be proud to be a member of the international community. He said TT should not underestimate the importance of its vote, because, even though it was a small nation, size did not matter in the UN General Assembly. Each country had a vote that counted.
“When you vote for the defence of the UN Charter and the principles and objectives, you vote for the environment, on the global scale, that will allow you and all other countries to deal with other challenges. Because it is a matter of fact that the current war distrac
