By Ikechukwu Amaechi
On December 6, Ukrainians commemorated the Armed Forces Day. It is an occasion used annually in honouring their “brave defenders who protect their homeland from Russian aggression.” I happened to be at the Ukrainian embassy that Friday where the Ambassador of Ukraine to Nigeria, Ivan Kholostenko, said the heroes being honoured “safeguard not only Ukraine but also the broader world.”
“On this day, we express our deepest gratitude to all those who defend the freedom and future of our country, ensuring peace and security for millions around the globe. The Embassy of Ukraine in Nigeria commemorates the heroes with an exhibition. Faces of men and women who risk everything for their homeland and peace around the globe are looking from the pictures of the exhibition,” Kholostenko said.
The most important element of the composition of the exhibition is the
blue-yellow Ukrainian flag, which he said “bears the imprint of heroism and
love for the motherland – the signatures of the heroes, soldiers of the 4th
Battalion of the Slovozhansk Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, who
defended Kharkiv from invaders.”
The national pride was palpable
as he spoke. “The battle for Kharkiv became an example of heroism and
self-sacrifice, when Ukrainian soldiers rebuffed the superior forces of
aggressor, preventing them from turning the city into a monument of repression
and cruelty. The flag has travelled all the way to Nigeria to serve as a symbol
of courage and love for the motherland.”
Of course, Ambassador
Kholostenko was talking about the Russia-Ukraine war which is almost in its
third year now. He blamed Russia for the aggression and for deploying hunger as
a component of its war strategy.
“By unleashing an unprovoked and
brutal war against Ukraine, Russia is using hunger as a way to put pressure on
the world. The courage of the Ukrainian defenders allows Ukraine to fulfill its
role as a guarantor of global food security and produce grain. This grain is
delivered to the countries of Africa and Asia, which have felt the consequences
of Russia’s aggression the most.”
It is a testament to how much
the world has fractured since the United Nations, UN, came into existence on
October 24, 1945 that bloody conflicts such as the war the Ukrainian envoy was
bemoaning still remain a global spectacle. On that historic day 79 years ago,
four years of painstaking planning morphed into an international organisation
designed to promote global peace, justice and better living for all humanity.
The negotiations were
particularly conscientious in the U.S. where President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, FDR, convinced Americans that an international organisation was the
best means to prevent future wars and the U.S. Senate approved the UN Charter
by a vote of 89 to 2. On June 26, 1945, 50 countries signed the Charter in San
Francisco. Poland signed on October 15, 1945, becoming one of the original 51
member states.
The overarching goal of the new
organisation, which rose from the ashes of the League of Nations, was to reduce
international tension, promote human rights, lower the chance of other
large-scale conflicts, promote peace, justice, and better living for all mankind.
Frustratingly, almost eight
decades thence, and 193 member states to boot, the world is teetering on the
brink of another large-scale conflict with the debilitating invasion of Ukraine
by Russia and Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Palestinians.
Fortuitously, just as all eyes were on President Roosevelt eight decades
ago, all eyes are on U.S. President-elect, Donald Trump, for a solution. The
fact that many acknowledge that Trump is no Roosevelt has not dampened
expectations.
On the hustings, Trump blamed
the two wars on the foreign policy failures of the Biden administration, with a
promise to end them in 24 hours if re-elected. Now that his dream has come
true, the global community is waiting on him.
Meanwhile, Trump, in his usual
bombast, is ratcheting up the rhetoric. “I think we have to solve the Ukraine
problem with Russia,” he told the French magazine, Paris Match, this week.
“Both countries are losing numbers that nobody can believe. Hundreds of
thousands of soldiers are being killed,” Trump said, responding to a question
about his top priority on the international stage. “And the Middle East is of
course a big priority. But I think that the Middle East is a less difficult
situation than Ukraine with Russia. But those are the two situations that we
have to solve and we have to solve them quickly. A lot of people are dying.”
On Saturday, Trump met with
French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in
Paris, during the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, his first international
trip since his dramatic political comeback. After the highly anticipated
meeting, he wetted global appetite for peace when he wrote on his Truth Social
platform that “there should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should
begin.”
It is in the interest of both
countries that the bloody conflict is ended. As Trump rightly noted, both
Ukraine and Russia are paying a dire price. Only 18 months into the conflict,
officials of the Biden administration aver that both countries had lost a staggering
number of troops estimated at over 500,000, including the injured. Ironically,
the troop toll was heavier on the Russian side in a war Putin said would end in
a matter of days.
But more Ukrainian civilians
have died since the war is waged mostly on Ukrainian soil, with fighting and
air strikes inflicting over 30,000 civilian casualties, while 3.7 million
people are internally displaced, and 6.5 million have fled Ukraine and 14.6
million others need humanitarian assistance.
There is no doubting the fact that
Ukrainians desire peace and are willing to collaborate with Trump and, indeed,
the international community to realise that goal, yet, one question
concentrates their minds right now. What will be the terms of the ceasefire
that Trump is touting? Will it guarantee enduring peace? This is important
because without justice and equity, peace becomes an illusion.
Ukrainians deserve a peaceful
homeland, immune to Russia’s wilful aggression, a point poignantly made by
President Zelenskyy last Sunday in a post on the Telegram messaging app: “When
we talk about an effective peace with Russia, we must talk first of all about
effective peace guarantees. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia
brought war to our land.”
That is the crux of the matter.
The Ukrainian envoy to Nigeria is on the same page with President Zelenskyy.
“Ukraine’s position on peace
remains firm. Ukraine desires peace more than anyone does. Ukraine did not
start this war and never wanted it. If Russia stops fighting – there will be peace.
If Ukraine stops fighting – Ukraine will cease to exist.
“Thus, the peace must be lasting
and just. Ukraine is ready to seek diplomatic solutions, but only on the
condition of full adherence to the United Nations Charter. Additionally,
Ukraine requests effective and reliable security guarantees from international
partners to prevent future aggression,” he said in a statement forwarded to me
on Wednesday.
To underscore their quest for
peace by building trust with the incoming U.S. administration, Zelenskyy’s top
aide, Andriy Yermak, met with key members of the Trump team on a two-day trip
recently. Will such deft diplomatic maneuvering thaw the diplomatic ice and
prod Trump in the direction of a ceasefire that will guarantee lasting peace?
Trump insists that he is pushing
the Russian leader Vladimir Putin to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine.
“Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” he
wrote on social media. And that is true. The question is: Would Putin and Russia
also want to make a deal and stop the madness? Trump says he knows Vladimir
well and that this is his time to act. “China can help. The World is waiting!”
Indeed, the world is waiting and
as Zelenskyy cautioned, Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace that Russians
will not destroy within a few years.”
Reducing military aid to Ukraine
and pulling the U.S. out of NATO as Trump has threatened will indubitably
hamstrung Kyiv’s fighting capacity. That cannot guarantee peace. Kremlin’s
incessant reference a decree by Zelenskyy from October 2022 that declared the
prospect of any talks “impossible” as long as Putin was Russia’s leader is also
a smokescreen to camouflage Putin’s aversion for talks with Ukraine. That
decree came after Putin proclaimed four occupied regions of Ukraine to be part
of Russia, in what Kyiv and the West said was a clear violation of Ukrainian
sovereignty.
Truth remains that Russia is the aggressor. And any deal that does not
guarantee lasting and just peace for Ukrainians will be a repudiation of the
79-year-old UN Charter.
*Amaechi is the publisher of TheNiche
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