"Ukrainian soldiers have for months heavily rationed their munitions and are currently outgunned by a ratio of eight to one. This is certainly no way to win. But we can still set it right. In the long run we should invest in our security to create a deterrence so powerful it dwarfs Putin and his cronies. We can deepen and widen our alliances to secure a lasting peace from a position of strength. We can create a more secure and stable world", the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic and Poland, Jan Lipavský and Radoslaw Sikorski, said in an op-ed published by Czech website Dennik and the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. "We are still not doing enough to meet the challenge posed by Russian aggression. We are heading in the right direction, but too slowly and too late", conclude the foreign ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic.
"In the heart of Europe cities are being bombed, civilians are being killed, children are being abducted" - the foreign ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic, Radosław Sikorski and Jan Lipavský said in an joint article. A picture shows Ukrainian rescuers working on the site of a damaged civilian infrastructure object after a double rocket attack in the southern city of Odesa, Ukraine, 15 March 2024. At least 16 people died and 53 others were injured following this Russian rocket attack. Photo by STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE/PAP/EPA
"We must first help Ukrainian defence forces here and now. They are brave and determined but they are not superhumans. Urgent actions are needed" - emphasized leading diplomats from Warsaw and Prague. They both called on allies to supplement the European Peace Facility with another EUR 5 billion in 2024.
They also appealed to buy artillery shells from sources and countries identified by the Czech initiative. 'Now is not the time to be picky. Developing long-term European defense capabilities and industry is crucial, but Ukraine needs these shells immediately. On the battlefield, it doesn't matter where they come from,' we read in the article."
The foreign ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic, Radosław Sikorski and Jan Lipavsky, in a joint article appealed for the use of frozen Russian assets to purchase the necessary ammunition for Ukraine, which is fighting Russian aggression. "Either directly, or by using them as collateral to raise debt or as guarantees for loans. Who ought to cover the cost of war – the victim and its allies, or the perpetrator? We should not be looking for excuses when help is so desperately needed and so readily available" - state Radosław Sikorski and Jan Lipavsky.
The foreign ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic remind in the text that "it's not just about Ukraine." "Putin's insatiable ambitions reach much further," they warn, recalling the Kremlin's demands made in 2021, when Russia pretended to be negotiating an agreement with the West. "Withdraw your forces to the positions they occupied in 1997, otherwise they will suffer the consequences," Moscow threatened at the time.
"The choice is clear – we can either deal with a defeated Russian army at Ukraine’s eastern border, or a victorious, emboldened one right at NATO’s doorstep. Today, we can either lament how the world has gotten so unstable, or we can act to bring the stability back.", Ministers Radosław Sikorski and Jan Lipavský emphasized in their conclusion.
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