President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Japanese Parliament and the Japanese people for the first time in history. He began his speech by noting that our capitals are separated by more than 8,000 km.
But at the same time there is no distance between our feelings of freedom, the desire to live and the desire for peace. And on February 24, on the day of the start of Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine, Japan proved this with its support by coming to our country's aid.
Vladimir Zelensky reminded the Japanese about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its terrible consequences, noting that < strong>Today, Russia has turned even this facility into a war arena, and uses the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone to prepare new attacks against our military.
— After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine, it will take years to investigate how much damage they caused to Chernobyl land, what burial sites of radioactive materials they damaged, and how radioactive dust spread around the planet. There are four nuclear power plants in Ukraine. These are 15 nuclear units, and all of them are under threat.
Russian troops have already fired tanks at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. The fighting has damaged hundreds of industries, many of which are especially dangerous. Shelling threatens gas and oil pipelines, coal mines, — emphasized the head of state.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also added that Ukraine was being warned about possible chemical attacks, and one of the main topics for the discussion of world politicians was the question of how to respond if the Russian Federation also uses nuclear weapons.
The President said that < strong>Russia has used more than 1,000 missiles and countless bombs against civilian cities in Ukraine. Russian troops destroyed dozens of our cities, some of them were burned to the ground.
Vladimir Zelensky noted that due to the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the world is destabilized, the world is on the verge of new crises . Turbulence in world markets brings problems for all countries that depend on the import of raw materials. Environmental and food challenges are unprecedented.
The President of Ukraine called on Japan to continue to impose sanctions against Russia, to unite the efforts of Asian countries. He stressed that an embargo on trade with the Russian Federation is necessary, Russian companies must be taken away from the market so that the money does not go to the aggressor's army.
— We must develop new security guarantees so that we can act preemptively and strongly every time a threat to peace arises. We need to create new tools and guarantees that will work against any aggression. Japan's leadership may be indispensable in their development for Ukraine and the world. I offer this to you so that the world can once again feel confident about what tomorrow will be, — Zelensky emphasized.
Vladimir Zelensky is convinced that thanks to common efforts and even greater pressure on Russia, it will still be possible to come to peace, rebuild Ukraine and reform international institutions.
