Today, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with the people of the world to stage a global protest against the horrifying actions being thrust upon his country. He asked this in a multilingual address to the world while speaking outside of a parliament building where an armed soldier stood guard. In his moving speech, he asked for people to make themselves “visible and heard,” adding, “Say that people matter, freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”
As the Ukraine-Russia conflict rounds into its second month, the leaders of NATO met at an emergency summit Thursday to talk about how to handle the seemingly heartless-undying conflict. In their talks, Western leaders agreed to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe, increase military aid to Ukraine and tighten their sanctions on Russia.
In order to show Ukraine, Russia, and the world their unity, an extraordinary triple summit of NATO, the G7, and the European Union, the military alliance announced new battle groups to be stationed in Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.
Alongside the additional military aid, the U.K. also announced that they have further extended their sanctions to include at least 65 more Russian individuals, including the Wagner Group of mercenaries which is a privately-owned Russian military group of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Through the continued derailing and bullying of Ukraine, many believe that Russia will stop short of nothing until it gets what it wants. Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said the invasion had changed security for the long term – and Nato was prepared for the “long haul.”
With countries like Japan and the U.S. becoming either enraged by pettiness or preparing for potential lightening cyberattacks, and China having been advised by many countries and NATO to not assist the now weakened version of Russia, all world leaders can do is sit back and see what Putin does next, as he continuously seems to be acting erratically.
Many things can and will get achieved through unity. Using world leaders as examples for standing ground and understanding the full definition of diplomacy shows the people of the world not only what our country’s morals are, but also reinforces that you voted for the right representative.
