U.S. support for Ukraine during Russia’s brutal attacks is more than just supporting a close partnership. It is a commitment “to uphold international rules and norms, to defend democratic values and stand up to dictators,” said Vice President Kamala Harris at the recent Switzerland Summit on Peace in Ukraine.
“Russia's aggression is not only an attack on the lives and the freedom of the people of Ukraine. It is not only an attack on global food security and energy supplies. Russia's aggression is also an attack on international rules and norms and the principles embodied in the UN Charter,” she said.
Ignoring the long-established norms of the United Nations Charter is a serious threat to global security. There will be devastating consequences if nations can succeed in unlawfully attacking neighboring countries.
“If the world fails to respond when an aggressor invades its neighbor, other aggressors will undoubtedly become emboldened. It leads to the potential of a world of conquest and chaos, not order and stability, which threatens all nations,” said Vice President Harris.
To counter Russia’s destabilizing actions, Vice President Harris says the peace summit has the dual benefits of working to boost energy and food security, and to ensure that “nothing about the end of this war can be decided without Ukraine.” However, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has put forward a proposal that does just that, she said.
“[W]e must speak truth. He is not calling for negotiations. He is calling for surrender. America stands with Ukraine not out of charity, but because it is in our strategic interest. We stand with delegations from more than 90 nations who also have a strategic interest in a just peace in Ukraine.”
Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war against Ukraine threatens global unity and security. The United States will continue to support Ukraine and continue to impose costs on Russia, said Vice President Harris. “And we will continue to work toward a just and lasting peace based on the principles of the United Nations Charter and the will of the people of Ukraine.”
