Jubilant Scenes as Ukraine Retakes Kherson - Prez. Zelensky compares to D-Day

Yes I saw that fee too. That political leader can only be viewed as being in the same mindset of others present so that says a lot.

 

Speech by Kaja Kallas, PM of Estonia, on the ongoing War:

https://valitsus.ee/en/news/speech-prime-minister-kaja-kallas-paasikivi-seura-finland

https://twitter.com/kajakallas/status/1592518862045868032

Speech by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at Paasikivi Seura in Finland
15.11.2022 | 14:03

1 IMAGE
Speech by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at Paasikivi Seura in Finland
Photo: Riigikantselei

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at Paasikivi Seura - “The Battle of Our Time”

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

You might be wondering why I titled this speech “the Battle of Our Time.” This is in reference to the scene from the Lord of the Rings, where Gandalf and Pippin are standing at the balcony at Minas Tirith, looking East. And Gandalf tells the young hobbit: “We have come to it in the end – the great battle of our time.” The wizard knew the challenges ahead. He knew what would happen if the forces of good failed. He knew that no effort was to be spared to make the world safe for the living.

So, let us ask: do we grasp the magnitude of what is happening in Ukraine and what is at stake here? Is our response adequate and what would be the price of failure?

Open war of aggression and annexation is back in Europe. This war is not just about Ukraine, it is about the international rules-based order and the future security architecture of Europe. Let us keep in mind that Russia targeted the ultimatums to us – to NATO and EU Member States. That was in December last year. Back then, the Kremlin demanded an end to NATO’s open door policy, it demanded that NATO returns to its pre-1997 borders, and it demanded limiting military equipment on the territories of sovereign countries.

To achieve their aims, Russia has shown the willingness to resort to military force. Things that we thought belonged to history are happening yet again in Europe. Atrocities that we thought were memories of the past have become the nightmares of today. In Ukraine, Russia is targeting civilians, is destroying civilian infrastructure, masses are being killed, tortured, raped and deported.

This is no accident but a feature of the Russian way of war. We are witnessing state-orchestrated war crimes. The Kremlin has made it clear that their aim is to wipe Ukraine off the world map. “Denazification" is the example of its hate speech – an official Russian label of the policy of destruction of the Ukrainian state and its people. This is all too similar to incitement to commit genocide – a distinct crime whether or not genocide actually follows. And such calls are working – in the areas liberated by Ukrainians, we see evidence of mass killings, torture, rape, deportations. In this part of Europe, we remember this face of Russian occupation painfully well.

Imperialism and colonialism are the Kremlin’s long-term ideologies. They did not emerge on 24 February this year. The warning signs and deeds were long there.

Russia justifies and veils its actions under the label of “liberating” people. Liberating those who have not asked for liberation. They justify this messianic zeal with the defeat of Nazi Germany and with the explanation that the Soviet Union helped save Europe and the world from Nazism. But they always forget to mention that it was the Soviet Union, together with its then-ally Nazi Germany, who started World War II together. It was Moscow who attacked Poland on 17 September 1939, and Finland on 30 November.

History matters. Although the Soviet Union collapsed, its imperialist ideology never did. While our history books were rewritten after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this was not the case in Russia.

While the crimes of Nazism have been unequivocally condemned and tried before tribunals, this has not been done with the crimes of Communism. We had the Tokyo and Nuremberg tribunals, but there was never a Moscow tribunal. Instead, Putin has built a strong revival of Stalinism in Russia and as a result opinion polls suggest that 70 percent of Russians approve of Stalin and his policies.

If people admire dictators, there is no moral obstacle to becoming one or submitting to one. If people’s minds and eyes are shut before past atrocities, there are no limits to committing new ones in the future. This is exactly what we see Russian soldiers doing right now in Ukraine.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Estonia has a border with Russia, so does Finland. We both have a long history with our mutual neighbour. Large countries can make mistakes and survive. For small ones, the margin of error is much smaller – the policy to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine is an existential matter to us.

In the last century Estonia and Finland had a very different experience with Russian violent imperialism. I want to pay tribute to Finland who decided to fight in 1939. Finland lost a lot of people and a lot of territory, but you retained something sacred – your statehood. Estonian volunteers of the infantry regiment 200 were fighting in the Continuation War under the banner “Soome vabaduse ja Eesti au eest”, “Suomen vapauden ja Viron kunnian puolesta”! Estonian freedom was gone, they were fighting for its honour. Finland lost a lot but Estonia lost everything – we lost our territory, freedom, and a fifth of our population to Soviet terror. And we felt we were forgotten and abandoned behind the Iron Curtain for half a century.

We have learnt a few things from this:

First, you need to fight for your freedom, whatever the odds. Because not fighting is much worse. Today Ukrainians are proving the same thing to the entire world every single day.

Second, if you want peace, you must prepare for war. Estonia has been spending 2% of its GDP on defence for many years. By next year Estonian defence spending will be approximately 3%. By 2024 it will be over 3%. Like Finland we have retained the conscription service and our armed forces are based on reserves. We are buying Himars, long-range shore-to-ship missile systems, mid-range air defence and much more.

Third, when we restored our independence after 50 years of occupation, we decided we will be Never Alone Again. Never again without friends and allies. That is why we are in the EU and in NATO.

Dear friends,

Estonia was among the first to ratify Finnish and Swedish membership in NATO. Finnish membership in the Alliance will open-up new horizons in our countries’ bilateral as well as Nordic-Baltic regional defence cooperation. Most Finns live in the southern part of Finland, most Estonians in the northern part of Estonia. This is the reason, in one sentence, to strengthen our bilateral defence cooperation.

Today, at the joint seminar of our two governments, we discussed the report on future bilateral relations. The report covers a lot of issues, but it lacks one chapter – it does not touch security and defence. It was written before 24 February and published in March. In the future, security must be front and centre of our cooperation. Especially as it’s linked to so many areas – energy security, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

From the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, my government has based our response on three tracks:

First – supporting Ukraine militarily, economically, and politically.

Second – increasing the price of aggression, isolating Russia, and ensuring there’s no impunity for war criminals.

And third – strengthening our own defence.

We started the process of sending arms to Ukraine in December last year. With Javelins it went smoothly – they played a key role in the battle of Kyiv. Unfortunately, it took longer for our delivery of the howitzers. Now, let’s imagine a scenario where the free world had sent the arms and ammunition we are sending now already in January or February. Many lives would have been saved. Back then, we saw too much self-restraint and too much self-deterrence.

The Russian strategy vis-à-vis the Euro-Atlantic community is built around three weapons – pain, fear, and hope.

The pain of starving Europe from energy.

Fear of nuclear war.

Hope to pressure Ukraine into a peace agreement granting Russia parts of conquered territory.

What should our response be?

When it comes to pain inflicted on us by Russia with the energy weapon – we will survive, and we will prosper. Russian aggression has demonstrated what happens when you connect to partners who weaponize trust. Trust may come at a price—but it is a price worth paying. The European Union and its Member States have learned lessons from dependence on Russian fossil fuels and there has been a sharp move away from it.

Concerning fear, let’s remember what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” If we allow nuclear blackmail to work even just once, we will wake up in a much, much more dangerous world.

So why not call for peace? What about freezing the conflict and looking for a diplomatic solution?

I really hope that Europe has learnt that appeasement only strengthens the aggressor. And that the aggressor will never stop unless it is stopped. The longer it takes, the harder it gets. In Estonia we know from our painful history what Russian peace really means – executions, torture, and deportations.

 

Any pause today in Ukraine would allow Russia to prepare, rest and regroup only to continue the aggression later. And in the end, we would – paraphrasing Churchill – have both dishonour and the war. After all, we had the chance to prevent future aggressions by Russia in 2008 and 2014. But the response from the free world then was weak. Principles were exchanged for cash, truth for gas. And the aggressor's confidence only grew. And now we have come to this – a large-scale genocidal war.

As for peace, unless the Kremlin gives up on its goal of conquering new territories in Ukraine, it is difficult to believe in the prospect of any real peace talks. I do not believe in the goodwill of an outright aggressor and a cold-blooded war criminal. As President von der Leyen recently said and I quote: “This is the time for us to show resolve, not appeasement.” End of quote.

Ukraine has shown that this war is winnable, but it needs our support – military, political, moral, and financial. We need to be at the forefront of helping Ukraine integrate with the Euro-Atlantic community, and we should help Ukraine as an EU candidate country as much as possible. Ukraine needs to be rebuilt and we must find a way to use Russia’s frozen assets for this already now – of course strictly based on the rule of law. And we must support Ukrainian path towards NATO membership, based on commitments made in Bucharest in 2008 and in Madrid in 2022. Ukraine’s full post-war Euro-Atlantic integration is fundamental for its future and essential for European security.

The perpetrators of this war of aggression and other war crimes committed in Ukraine need to be brought to justice – the International Criminal Court has an important role here. But we also need to establish a tribunal for the crime of aggression – as the International Criminal Court does not have jurisdiction over this crime. The EU should play a leading role here.

Finally, we should never take our attention away from strengthening our own defence. And we must not forget that Russia is also waging a global hybrid war on Europe and beyond. It hopes that high energy prices and flow of refugees will weaken our publics’ support for Ukraine and leave us with less resources to support it. Russia is spreading disinformation globally, it keeps interfering in our elections, and weaponizing dependencies. It keeps targeting us with cyberattacks. Freedom from Russian dependency means freedom from Russian blackmail.

Let me come back to the questions I posed at the start. What is at stake in Ukraine – it is our own freedom we are protecting there. It is freedom from repressions, freedom from war crimes, freedom to decide over our own security arrangements and foreign policy direction.

This freedom is not cost-free. Ukrainians are paying with their lives. We pay in euros and must keep repeating to ourselves that gas might be expensive, but freedom is priceless.

I will wrap up with two short sentences I know you all agree with:

Slava Ukraini!

AND

Suomi NATO:n!"

End of Speech.

Ending Abortion etc is very important but a people defending themselves from an Unjust War have every right to do so. Btw, Putin is also Pro-Choice: Source: https://fortune.com/2017/12/14/vladimir-putin-russia-abortion-pro-choice-press-conference/ "Guess What? Vladimir Putin Is a Pro-Choice Champion

"Maybe it’s the old Communist in him, maybe he’s always been a closet feminist, or maybe it’s because he just doesn’t want to annoy half of the country’s voters four months before he runs for re-election. Whatever the reason, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally came out as pro-choice on Thursday."

But this War isn't about that. This War is about one country that illegally invaded another and is on its territory, having caused upwards of 20 MN people to suffer terribly and entirely needlessly. As we care about saving lives by ending abortion, so also imo, we should work to end Unjust Wars too.

God Bless.

 

Sin causes wars.

Our Lady at Fatima says wars are a punishment for sin

Prayer and fasting can stop wars. Especially the Rosary.

We have a duty to pray the Rosary for peace.

 

Agreed. We have a duty to pray, and also to work, for Peace. Ora et Labora, as the monastic maxim goes.

 

Agreed

 

According to Our Lady's Apparitions in Hrushiv, Ukraine will be instrumental in the Conversion of Russia. Video on that:

"Our Lady To Ukraine: Through You And The Blood of Martyrs, Will Come The Conversion of Russia!"



This is the Apparition known as Our Lady of Hrushiv which Benedict Carter made reference to in his One Peter Five Article: "Finally, I encourage American and other Traditionalist Catholics to learn about the various Marian apparitions in Ukraine (at least one of these is known to Dr. Mazza). The two at Hrushiv, the first in 1914 and the second, seen by many thousands of people, in 1987, specifically stated that Ukraine is particularly blessed because no other country dedicated to the Virgin had suffered so much for Our Lady than it had; and that – as Russia has not turned away from the paths of death – the eventual result will be a Third World War. See more here:



From: https://onepeterfive.com/solzhenitsyn-american-trad-russia-ukraine/

Our Lady is referring to Stalin's persecution during the Holodomor etc during which 7-10 MN Ukrainians were killed, apart from other instances where Ukrainian Catholics in particular were persecuted: "The Holodomor (Ukrainian: Голодомо́р, romanized: Holodomor, IPA: [ɦolodoˈmɔr];[2] derived from морити голодом, moryty holodom, 'to kill by starvation'),[a][3][4][5] also known as the Terror-Famine[6][7][8] or the Great Famine,[9] was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1932–1933 which affected the major grain-producing areas of the country.[10] ... A joint statement to the United Nations signed by 25 countries in 2003 declared that 7–10 million died.[21][22]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

See also:
The Church That Stalin Couldn’t Kill: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Thrives Seventy Years after Forced Reunification

"Seventy years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, under orders from Josef Stalin, an illegal “synod” of Kremlin-controlled clergy gathered in the city of Lviv, recently absorbed into the Soviet Union as part of the settlement of World War II. The purpose of the gathering was to liquidate the independent existence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, or rather to “reunite” it with the Russian Orthodox Church. This flimsy ruse derived from the church’s origins as a result of the Union of Brest in 1595 when thousands of faithful and their clergy—the Metropolitanate of Kyiv-Halych—broke away from Eastern orthodoxy to place themselves under the authority and pastoral protection of the Latin Catholic Pope of Rome.

The next three-and-a-half centuries established the church as a thriving spiritual center that was closely connected to rising social and intellectual movements as they struggled to define an identity for nascent Ukrainian populations that found themselves under the serial domination of empires and states in the region.

By the middle of the twentieth century, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) included over three thousand parishes, 4,440 churches, five seminaries, and 127 monasteries. Over three million believers were served by three thousand priests, ten bishops, and the metropolitan at the head of the church. As Stalin’s regime moved to subdue and absorb the Western Ukrainians, it was clear that this large and vibrant institution that answered to an authority outside of the state would continue to nurture the same patriotism and independent spirit that had proved so problematic during the first Soviet occupation in 1939-1941. Moreover, during the Second World War, even though the Communist Soviet regime had moved away from strict atheism, recognizing that religion could play a role in supporting the war effort, the imperative to control all religious institutions remained. The “reunification” of the UGCC with the Russian Orthodox Church emerged as the solution. A “synod” was assembled without the participation of any UGCC bishops; those who had been coerced into attending cast their votes and the church was officially absorbed into the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate along with most of its property. In a cynical move that reinforced the decision, the announcement was made on the first Sunday of Easter Lent, on the 350th anniversary of the Union of Brest. As a result, the UGCC became the largest outlawed church in the world.

Harsh repressions followed. Ukrainian Catholic priests were beaten, tortured, and given long prison sentences. Tens of thousands of religious laity met the same fate. UGCC Metropolitan Josef Slipiy was exiled to a hard labor camp in Siberia. The church went underground: services were held in the forests, or in private homes where they dared. Children were baptized in secret and religious rites performed clandestinely, while the Soviet state continued its assault on priests, monks, nuns, and the Catholic faithful, offering respite within the Russian Orthodox Church or repression as the price for refusal to cut ties with the bishop of Rome"

From: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blo...ves-seventy-years-after-forced-reunification/

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/live...aine-live-ukraine-implements-planned-blackout

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022...n-voluntary-evacuation-from-kherson-deputy-pm
It doesn’t sound like much of a victory at the moment.

 

Allelujah! Thank God. Power under control, so many Millions of lives can go back to normal. No thanks to the Kremlin, though.

"Ukraine power supplies are under control, no need to panic, ministry says
Reuters
A high-voltage substation of Ukrenergo damaged by Russian military strike in the central region of Ukraine
A broken wires are seen at a high-voltage substation of Ukrenergo damaged by Russian military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the central region of Ukraine November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
Nov 19 (Reuters) - Ukrainian electricity supplies are under control despite a series of Russian attacks on power-generating infrastructure and there is no need to panic, the energy ministry said on Saturday."

https://www.reuters.com/world/ukrai...er-control-no-need-panic-ministry-2022-11-19/

 

Shared by Russian Chess Champion and Alexei Navalny supporter Garry Kasparov on Twitter. Us Def. Secy Lloyd Austen gets it. https://www.defense.gov/News/Speech...d-j-austin-iii-at-the-h/#.Y3oveNRofQI.twitter

"So today, I’d like to talk about four reasons why Ukraine matters to all of us.

First, Putin’s war of choice is a direct threat to European security.

Second, Russian aggression is a clear challenge to our NATO allies.

Third, Russia’s deliberate cruelty is an attack on our shared values—and on the rule of law.

And finally, Russia’s invasion tears at the rules-based international order that keeps us all secure.

So our support for Ukraine’s self-defense is an investment in our own security and prosperity as well.

But first, let’s be clear. Putin’s invasion has caused the worst crisis in [European] security since the end of the Second World War.

You know, Putin tried to conquer the largest country in Europe outside of his own. And a member of the U.N. Security Council tried to deny democracy to more than 43 million people.

So that’s why our recently released National Defense Strategy calls out Russia as “an acute threat.”

And Russia’s neighbors in Europe have watched its aggression with rising alarm. They fully understand that February 24th changed the world. And they are grappling with the instability, and the destruction, and the human misery, the flood of refugees, and the other dangers that an even more reckless and aggressive Russia presents.

Yet we’ve seen an incredible response from our friends in Europe, as well as others all around the globe.

Allies and partners have raced to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses. They’ve pushed hard to train Ukrainian troops on new defensive systems. They’ve provided thousands of UAV systems, more than 3,000 anti-tank systems, and vast, vast amounts of ammunition. And they’ve rushed to invest in their own industrial production to meet their security needs even while giving Ukraine the capabilities to defend itself in the hard months and years ahead.

Now, that brings me to my second reason why Ukraine matters.

 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austen's Speech, continued. Men like this, by their courage and their bravery, by their clarity of thought and moral conviction, are saving the world from the horrors of 10s of millions being plunged into misery and suffering:

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has posed a historic challenge to our NATO allies, including Canada.

We’ve updated our posture to ensure that NATO’s defense and deterrence are ready for the dangers ahead.

In the words of my good friend and colleague, Secretary General Stoltenberg, NATO’s purpose is “to prevent war and preserve peace.” And NATO has done this for 70 years.

And the foundation of this great defensive alliance is Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty. Article Five declares that an armed attack against one or more allies “shall be considered an attack against them all.”

That’s our commitment.

And it is ironclad.

As the National Defense Strategy says, we’ll continue to focus on deterring Russian attacks on our NATO allies and reinforcing our treaty commitments. And we’ll work with our outstanding allies to increase interoperability, and to share intelligence, and to improve our resilience against attack and coercion.

And so since February, we’ve moved swiftly and surely to reinforce our NATO allies.

NATO has strengthened its forward defenses and enhanced its forces on its Eastern Flank.

And since February, we’ve deployed or extended more than 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe, bringing our current total to more than 100,000 American service members across Europe.

In Poland, we have permanently forward-stationed the V Corps Headquarters Forward Command Post, an Army garrison headquarters, and a field-support battalion. And those are the first permanent U.S. forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank.

And we’re looking forward to welcoming Finland and Sweden—which, as you know, are two highly capable democracies—to NATO’s ranks.

Ladies and gentlemen, NATO is a defensive alliance. It does not seek confrontation with Russia. It poses no threat to Russia.

Make no mistake: we will not be dragged into Putin’s war of choice.

But we will stand by Ukraine as it fights to defend itself.

And we will defend every inch of NATO territory.

And we will continue to strengthen NATO’s collective defense and deterrence.

Through two World Wars and the Cold War, we’ve learned that our security requires defending not just our side of the Atlantic but also a larger, transatlantic community of freedom.

And as Russia has looked to others for help, it has actually caused new security concerns for allies and partners beyond NATO.

Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea to help its assault on Ukraine—including using Iranian drones to kill Ukrainian citizens. And Iran is gaining important battlefield experience. And this kind of irresponsible behavior from Iran and the DPRK is a serious concern for our allies and partners in the Middle East and in the Indo-Pacific.

Now, that brings me to my third reason why Ukraine matters.

...

 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austen, Continued:

"You see, there are still rules in war.

And if a big power can flaunt those rules, it encourages others to defy international law and international norms.

So we are determined to defend those rules—and especially the bedrock principle of noncombatant immunity. Because the more that it’s eroded, the more dangerous our world becomes.

You see, Russia isn’t just waging a war of aggression. It’s also deliberately attacking civilian targets and civilian infrastructure with no military purpose whatsoever.

Now, these aren’t just lapses.

These aren’t exceptions to the rules.

These are atrocities.

And Russian military barrages have left innocent Ukrainians without heat, and water, and electricity.

And we’ve seen schools attacked. We’ve seen children killed. Hospitals bombed. And centers of Ukrainian history and culture reduced to rubble.

And Russia has killed thousands of civilians in Ukraine, according to the U.N. And more than 7 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to other countries.

And all this comes after disturbingly radical statements from Russia’s leaders.

You know, days before his invasion, Putin declared that, “Modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia.”

Now, that’s an alarming preview of Putin’s vision—a vision of a world in which autocrats decide which countries are real, and which countries can be snuffed out.

And as President Biden said at the U.N. General Assembly, “This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state, plain and simple.” And then he added, “Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe in, that should make your blood run cold.”

And it has.

And that’s why so many nations of goodwill have stepped up to fight for Ukraine’s right to defend itself. And that’s why the world rejected Russia’s bogus referenda, its claims to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory, and its hollow assertions that Ukraine is somehow a part of Russia.

And that’s why 141 countries—let me say that again, 141 countries—in the U.N. General Assembly stood together to condemn Russia’s lawless war of choice.

Now, the ripples of Russia’s invasion have traveled far, far beyond Europe. And Putin’s war has underscored the challenge that we face in the Indo-Pacific, where the PRC is also pushing for something very far from our vision of a free, and stable, and open international system.

Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right, where disputes are resolved by force, and where autocrats can stamp out the flame of freedom.

As President Biden said this week after his meeting with President Xi, “There need not be a Cold War.” But we remain clear-eyed about the China challenge.

The PRC’s military activities in the Taiwan Strait are growing increasingly provocative, with PLA aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers on a near-daily basis. We’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of dangerous PLA intercepts of U.S. and allied forces—including Canadian aircraft—that were operating lawfully in international airspace over the South and East China Seas.

Now, these troubling trends highlight the imperative of working with our unparalleled network of allies and partners across both the Atlantic and the Pacific to deter aggression. So we are drawing on the lessons from Ukraine to further bolster the self-defense capabilities of our Indo-Pacific partners. And we’re helping them to become more agile and resilient. And we’re working towards an open and secure future that advances our shared interests and our shared values.

 

Now, the shorthand for that type of open, and decent, and stable world is the rules-based international order. Now, I know that phrase doesn’t necessarily get everyone’s pulse racing.

[Laughter]

But the rules-based international order isn’t some piece of abstract political-science jargon.

It is one of the towering achievements of human government.

It’s the structure of international institutions, alliances, laws, and norms built at staggering cost by the allies—including and especially the United States—in the awful aftermath of World War II.

The World War II allies came together, in Winston Churchill’s words, “to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.”

The price of stopping Nazi Germany and the Axis was almost unimaginable. More than 400,000 American service members and more than 44,000 Canadians alone died in that war. And tens of millions of civilians around the world were lost to war and genocide.

But the allies prevailed—including the mighty contribution of the Soviet military, which suffered a shattering cost of an estimated 8 million dead or more.

And the allies came together to build a better world out of the devastation. And as it happens, the vision of that world was first painted here in Canada.

In 1941, Churchill crossed the Atlantic to meet President Roosevelt in Newfoundland. And the principles that FDR and Churchill laid out in the Atlantic Charter still ring true today.

That charter condemns aggression. It rejects territorial changes against the free will of the peoples concerned. And it respects the right of all peoples, big and small, to choose their own governments.

Now, those principles still help ground the rules-based international order.

It is an order where small states have the same rights as large ones.

Where prosperity is shared by all peoples, and not hoarded by empires or autocrats.

Where nuclear weapons are responsibly controlled, and not used to threaten the world.

Where disputes are resolved by negotiations, and not bloodshed.

It’s a world where sovereignty is respected, and not trampled.

Where civilians are protected, and not targeted.

And a world where borders are honored, and not redrawn by force.

The price of establishing the post-World War II order was far too high to just walk away from. We have security obligations that we cannot walk away from.

 

U.S. leadership helped to build the rules-based international order, and U.S. leadership is vital to sustain it.

And the people of the world don’t want to go back—to endure a grim new era of upheaval, and chaos, and war.

And Russia’s invasion offers a preview of a possible world of tyranny and turmoil that none of us want to live in.

And it’s an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation.

Because Putin’s fellow autocrats are watching. And they could well conclude that getting nuclear weapons would give them a hunting license of their own. And that could drive a dangerous spiral of nuclear proliferation.

Putin’s war of choice shows the whole world the dangers of disorder.

That’s the security challenge that we face. It is urgent, and it is historic. But we’re going to meet it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the basic principles of democracy are under siege around the world. But we meet here among friends who share our democratic values.

At home, that means that we cherish free and fair elections. And the rule of law. And a free, independent, and vigorous press. And the right to worship. The freedom to say what you think, to believe in what’s in your heart, to rally for the causes that stir your soul.

And abroad, it means that we rededicate ourselves to the proposition that free government, free minds, and free peoples will always be stronger than the autocrats who believe that their grip on power is all that matters.

And so the world has seen something extraordinary over these tragic months of unnecessary war.

You see, Russia thought that it could easily conquer Ukraine—but the Ukrainians are defending themselves magnificently.

Russia thought that the West would splinter—but our allies and partners stand united and firm.

Russia thought that democracy was a spent force—but free people everywhere have rallied behind Ukraine’s right to self-defense.

Now, we know that hard times may lie ahead as Ukraine faces a harsh winter. And as Russia’s position on the battlefield erodes, Putin may resort again to profoundly irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling.

But we will meet these challenges—together.

And we will continue to draw inspiration from the Ukrainian people.

You know, just days ago, a father in Kyiv waited calmly to fill up a container of water for his wife and their newborn baby. His family was living without heat, during rolling blackouts.

And he said that however bad the winter might be, it was better than giving in to tyranny.

Now that’s the spirit of Ukraine.

That’s the spirit that won the Battle of Kyiv, that retook Snake Island, and freed Kherson and Kharkhiv.

And it shows the moral power of a free people fighting to defend their lives, their country, and their unalienable rights.

You know, the Russians have a massive military and impressive weapons. But it hasn’t helped them prevail in a campaign of conquest and cruelty.

And the reason is simple.

You see, war isn’t just about the weapons.

It’s about the cause.

And it’s about those who fight for it.

As President Biden has said, “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia—for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”

And the Canadian Parliament heard a similar message from another American president back in May of 1961, when John F. Kennedy made his first foreign trip of his presidency.

Our alliance, he declared, “is born not of fear, but of hope.”

And ladies and gentlemen, we are the guardians of that alliance born of hope.

And I believe that our support for the forces of freedom in Ukraine will hold fast, in any season or any storm.

Free people always refuse to replace an open order of rules and rights with one dictated by force and fear.

And that’s why Ukraine matters.

Because rules matter.

Sovereignty matters.

And freedom matters.

[Applause]"

Close Quote. End of Speech. I 100% Agree with US Def. Secretary Lloyd Austen on this particular issue. And I think Pope St. John Paul II and President Raegan, President Walesa etc, who helped fight Russian Aggression in Europe during the Soviet Period, would have agreed with it as well.

God Bless.
In Christ,
Xavier.

 

Just like WWII.
Xavier we are all praying for this war to end, but Ukraine is not an innocent bystander here. They have been at war, against Ukrainian citizens, who happen to have Russian ethnicity for 8 years. That’s an unjust war. The ends never justify the means. Punishment will come. Prayers for both countries, they need it.

 

War is never an answer. This is bloody awful!
https://www.rt.com/news/566901-ukraine-pow-execution-nyt/

 

That is so sad. There is evil on all sides.

 

Terrible things happen in war. Hatred is ramped up. In this war the media are especially culpable. Here's Eva Bartlett throwing some light on the "mass graves" story:



I suppose that something similar is happening in the Russian media but that's for the Russians to be aware of. I'm flabbergasted at the way propaganda here is being swallowed by people who should know better. I'm ashamed and very annoyed that my government has completely jettisoned our neutrality over this. I'm just grateful that we aren't in NATO. We're in the EU but not in NATO. Had Biden not pulled the rug from under Zelensky over the missile strike on Poland, the EU would have been declaring itself to be at war with Russia. If the Poles don't cop themselves on, it could happen yet. They might be OK with their young men being Britain's cannon fodder, but we Irish already have that Tshirt. I thought those days were behind us. Apparently not if Zelensky has his way. If the Brits want to take down the Russians and impoverish Germany, let them openly declare war on Russia instead of covertly carrying out acts of terror and pointing the finger at everyone but themselves.

I'm shocked that the Americans would stoop this low. I've always admired the US. I have family there and America has been very good to them. I've never met an American I didn't like. The only way I can reconcile what's staring us in the face is the conviction that the vast majority of Americans would be equally shocked if they weren't being fed a load of lies. I don't follow the media here but judging by what I'm hearing from the people around me, the Irish media are no better.

I don't know any Russians or Ukrainians but I'm sure that the vast majority of them just want to live their lives in peace as do the vast majority of people in every country.

May God forgive us all. All involved in this need our prayers. So many lives lost as we approach the holy season of Advent. Will we humans ever learn?