Diplomatic solutions can prevent conflicts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday, when asked to give Taiwan advice.
Zelenskiy made the remark in response to media queries following a special address he gave via video link to the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore from Friday to yesterday.
“How do you recommend that Taiwan stand strong as China seeks to impose its control over a free people, by force if necessary?” a reporter asked the Ukrainian president.
Photo: AFP
Pre-emptive measures should be taken against wars, which “no one benefits from,” except for a few political leaders with ever-growing ambitions, Zelenskiy said.
Action should be taken before a war has started and caused “hundreds of thousands of casualties, and even millions of casualties like we have in Ukraine,” he said. “If there is a way out diplomatically, we need to use the diplomatic way.”
Zelenskiy did not directly mention Taiwan or China in his response, but said that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a lesson for the whole world.
Photo: Reuters
“We need a diplomatic resolution to support countries that are in need of help” and not leave them behind to be assaulted by a more powerful country, he said.
Ukraine respects international law and has “no intention or plan” to invade Russian territory, he said, calling on the world to put the Russian leadership in its place — that is, in its own country.
Zelenskiy thanked everyone who backs Ukraine, saying that the support and attention are not only to ensure the safety of Ukraine, but also the safety of the whole world.
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