New security alliances as a counterbalance to the rising world order of authoritarianism. Technological mastery will define who leads
www.pravda.com.ua
Fri, 09 May 2025 18:50:00 +0300
Speech by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, CommanderinChief of Ukraine 20212024 Valerii Zaluzhnyi at the London Defence Conference, May 9, 2025 It is very symbolic to speak today, when the world should celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war against fascism.
But unfortunately, the country that suffered from fascism then, today, having appropriated the joint victory, continues the brutal war.
Killing women and children today, just as the fascists did eighty years ago, using the slogans of their propaganda.
And on the other hand, the descendants of those who put down their arms by force are doing their best to protect the Ukrainian people.
What has happened in this world But first of all, I would like to say that we are extremely grateful to you, our partners, because without your help with money and weapons, without political and moral support, of course, I would not be here today.
Western assistance helped us not to fall and to survive.
Of course, I can confirm that we sometimes had to pay a very high price for every delay.
But today, in the year twentyfive, such support is probably not enough.
And this is not about the size or timing of this aid, despite the fact that they are still important.
Today I want to speak about the growing threats that continue to destroy the world order.
And may soon lead to each of us in this room needing help.
All this is happening against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, where it is clear Ukrainian soldiers are fighting not only with the combined resources of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, but also with their soldiers.
Doesnt it seem strange to you that in the 21st century, exactly 80 years after the end of the bloodiest war in human history, a war has been in the very heart of Europe for 11 years A war that continues to escalate every day, claiming more and more lives.
Doesnt that surprise you What about the world order Does it even exist Here is our experience of world order.
But the hardest thing is to explain this to children whose parents died on the real front.
It is impossible to explain it to parents who have lost their innocent children.
I can also tell you what its like to talk to mothers who dont even know where their child is and hope for a miracle to the last.
Lets figure out what this world order that was before 8 August 2008, meant for Ukraine.
I mention that date on purpose.
When Russian missiles and shells flew over the heads of Georgian children this world order was supposed to make itself felt.
But it stayed silent, watching as one country killed people in another.
What happened to the rules that this world order was based on The same rules kept in the organization called the United Nations also stayed silent.
And now, 17 years later, this organization itself, the United Nations, in 2025, cant officially acknowledge the obvious fact that Ukrainians are being killed every day.
By 2014, this world order finally showed concern.
As a result of such concern, on February 24, 2022, just like the nazis in 1941, at exactly 4 a.m., new cannibals in tanks began to crush the Ukrainian state.
As a result, Ukraine has lost tens of thousands killed and hundreds of thousands wounded.
Millions of people have lost their homes.
Millions more have left the country to save their children from the war.
The occupied territory looks like a stone desert from the apocalypse.
Every day the same enemy terrorizes civilians with missiles, bombs and shaheds, killing primarily women and children.
Most Ukrainian men are on the front line.
This is what the world order means for Ukrainians.
It simply doesnt exist.
It didnt exist in 2014, not in 2022, and still doesnt today.
Maybe you think youre luckier.
Youre not Ukraine.
This wont happen to you.
I have to disappoint you.
Some in Ukraine thought so too in 2008 and 2014.
By the way, many of these latter, already part of another army, came in 2022 to kill their relatives and neighbors of yesterday with a horde.
It is especially interesting for me today to see people in Europe who have been very surprised by the emotional speeches in Munich 2025, and not because of what is happening right next door in Ukraine for 11 years.
As a result, Ukraine, which stayed outside that world order, was forced to fight for the right to live with arms in its hands, at the cost of the lives of its own people.
By the way, we will make sure that in the next world order, Ukraine is not outside of it.
But there is no more world order described in the works of the great founders of the liberal world.
It has come to its logical end under the pressure of the unsatisfied, on the one hand, and fear and incapacity, on the other.
As a result, the existing system of world order, which historically was based on two components a set of rules and a balance of power, began to collapse.
Because these rules would have to be ensured by the power of force provided by the leaders of world politics.
The rules written for peaceful coexistence no longer work.
The institutions meant to control these rules can no longer do so, because they themselves are part of those who rejects them.
The strength of the treaty means nothing anymore.
Destructive trends in the global security system have called into question the system of international security guarantees.
What is the Budapest Memorandum worth About as much as Article 5 of the NATO treaty.
The concept of security guarantees legal, diplomatic, or military has lost its certainty.
And Ukraines experience shows that even searching for such guarantees today calls into question whether they exist at all.
The balance of power that our university professors told us so much about no longer exists.
The same balance that was created after the end of the Cold War.
And not only morally, but also physically.
If someone measures their military power under NATO Article 5 on the basis of the last war in Iraq, I have great pity for you.
And there is another very important aspect.
One that people today seem afraid to talk about.
This is Morality.
The world order was meant to be built on shared human values, on principles and basics of morality.
But where is it all Human life should be the highest value.
In the most difficult situations, when political and legal mechanisms fail, it is moral norms that should guide the behavior of nations.
And yet, morality too has vanishedundermined by those who are dissatisfied with the current system.
New information technologies have transformed how people communicate, reshaping entire societies.
Traditional media has steadily been replaced by social media.
The filters that once helped slow the spread of lies and harmful psychological influence are gone.
Today even a madman can instantly turn into an expert and later influence the mood of millions, and as a result, shaping national policy.
And so, while one part of humanityenchanted by its own comfort and peacewas busy fighting wrinkles and promoting ideas of social justice and tolerance, the other was sharpening knives and raising killers.
Over time, as Ive already said, even the very institution meant to uphold international morality couldnt bring itself to call the aggressor by its name.
Because for some, morality means murder.
And for others, its just business and no morality at all.
So we come to the main question.
What exactly are the existing alliances that have been the basis of the world order It is difficult and not very pleasant for me to make an honest estimate of those who helped and are helping us.
But still, if we are looking for a solution, I will be honest and give only my own opinion.
I hope that NATO is likely to pass this strength test, which naturally must be.
And I really want it to be a moral test.
But that is only my wish.
At the same time NATO is afraid to expand with countries like Ukraine or, for example, Moldova or Georgia.
This is a real fear of Russia, that these countries probably belong to it.
Then the question is what is the purpose of this alliance, if it is afraid of having enemies Can it then, at least theoretically, play any role in securing a group of countries The same fear of escalation, red lines or something else, shared not only by me but also by some members of the alliance, makes me doubt the so far supposed implementation of Article 5.
In the current situation, this is an extremely troubling signal.
I have repeated many times that the nature of modern warfare has changed and continues to change.
When I talk about the nature of war, I dont just mean drones taking over the battlefield.
Never imagine that you need just a transformation of the defence industry or some rearmament.
You need a new state policy.
As it was in the past in the days of nuclear energy mastery or space exploration.
Im talking about technologies that continue to develop, Im talking about new science, production and, of course, the use of armed forces.
This means new tactics, new organisation, new doctrines, new training and defence planning budgeting.
All this requires not only additional resources, but also, most importantly, additional time.
For example, if NATO stops using tanks tonight and starts adopting technologies, it will be able to reach the level of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of the year twentyfour in about five years.
But technology will move on during this time.
And so will the enemies.
The nature of modern warfare is far from what NATO is now operating.
So the current capabilities can be used up within a very short period of time.
If a future war involves more than one region, the resource will be consumed even faster.
These are only a few examples of how to measure the effectiveness of an alliance from a realistic point of view.
I doubt that what I am talking about now is not known to a possible enemy.
What to do next It seems simple.
First, find leaders who are brave enough to face the truth and lead into the future.
Today all politicians are looking for their victories in the past, where they would like to return.
Some want to restore the USSR and return NATO to its 1997 borders.
Some want to make America great again.
Some think about a Greater Hungary, some about the glory of the Ottoman Empire.
China draws inspiration from the time when it led global development.
But the truth is, going back to the past is probably no longer possible.
The world has changed completely.
And with how fast technology is developing, its even less likely we can return to the way things were.
So, we all have a chance to save our own children and their future.
What does this mean It means that global problems require global solutions.
We must build an alternative to the world order of dictatorships that is already taking shape.
Of course, this must start with one clear truth.
The Western world cannot afford to let Ukraine lose its battle against those who seek to destroy it.
Because it is Ukraine that stands in the way of world order in Europe.
The next step, of course, is to build a completely new security architecture for Europe.
It is clear that the new American policy most likely means that the security contract with Europe is over.
Then Europe needs Ukraine as a shield.
We have the biggest army on the continent.
We are the only one with an army that knows how to contain Russia.
The only one with an army that knows how to wage modern, hightech warfare.
Ukraine needs Europe as a source of investments, as well as political and moral support.
Europe needs to consolidate.
The difficulties that we face today and will face in the future give us the push to form a new alliance first of all, a security one, and then an economic one.
Ukraine will play an important role in this alliance, because it is impossible without Ukraine.
So, new alliances and coalitions are waiting for us.
The fast development of technology gives us a chance for security.
But only for those who could build flexible coalitions.
Today, on the one hand, technological competition between possible or actual enemies no longer directly depends on economic potential and GDP.
Cheaper information technologies for intelligence, modern defeat measures, radioelectronic warfare and situational awareness make them available to almost any country in the world.
On the other hand, the war of Russia against Ukraine and the development of military capabilities of some countries show that some states may have technological advantage in some areas, but none of them will be able to secure their own independence in the full range of modern defence technologies.
Even the USA, according to recent studies, is behind a number of countries in such critical areas of the future as 5G, hypersonic weapons, electronic warfare, semiconductors, directed energy and quantum technologies.
So, the search for alliances and partners to develop and share advanced technologies, increase production capacity and consolidate resources will become an absolute must for countries that want to ensure their own technological superiority and, as a result, guarantee their own security.
Control over critical resources and technologies will become a matter of survival.
And the last thing.
For such alliances, education and science are the best investment, and innovation potential is the new key advantage of the future.
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