During a bilateral meeting at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine on Saturday in Switzerland, Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed their appreciation for the recent Ukrainian-American security agreement in a cordial conversation.
Zelenskyy reports that Ukrainian “teams have begun to implement” the recently signed US-Ukraine bilateral security pact in Italy.
“Putin is trying to expand the war and make it more bloody,” Zelenskyy stated. “But together with America and other partners, we protect the lives of people and open up new opportunities for diplomacy.”
He added that the summit’s purpose is diplomacy, which Ukraine has always believed in, and that conflict is not an option.
Harris cited Russia’s intensified actions, “including opening a new front outside of Kharkiv and relentlessly attacking Ukraine’s energy system.”
“It is in our interest to uphold international rules and norms such as sovereignty and territorial integrity and the national system we helped create following World War II, which bolsters America’s security and prosperity,” Harris stated.
Harris also mentioned the United States’ recent efforts to assist Ukraine, which included $60 billion in cash and the transfer of extra weapons to soldiers on the front lines.
The vice president also announced an additional $1.5 billion from USAID to help rebuild Ukrainian infrastructure and meet humanitarian needs.
According to Zelenskyy, the participation of the nations at the summit demonstrates that the world is upholding the UN Charter, which states that “no one has the right to wage an aggression war against a neighbor.”
“Nobody has the right to threaten the world with nuclear weapons. He stated that no one had the right to jeopardize the war’s and its regions’ food, energy, or other security, and no one had the right to steal children from another country.
Zelenskyy outlined three worldwide priorities that will be critical to the peace process: radiation and nuclear safety, food security, and the release of prisoners and deportees.
“The peace formula encourages all the powers of the world to think about ending the war and to propose how to end it,” Zelenskyy stated. “Putin should switch from the language of ultimatums to the language of the world majority, which wants a just peace.”
Ursula van der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also discussed how the impacts of the conflict had spread around the world.
“We are here today to help put an end to a violent and unjust war. A conflict that has destroyed lives and uprooted millions. The echoes of Russia’s actions resound around the world. Energy and food prices have skyrocketed,” von der Leyen added. “And it is a cautionary tale for the entire world.”