Addendum
Address by President Zelensky
Mr Speaker Order.
We are now meeting informally.
As I informed the House earlier, given the exceptional and grave situation I have agreed
to a request from President Zelensky of Ukraine to address Members of this House about the
situation in his country.
That is why I have suspended the formal business of the House in order to hear the President’s
address.
We have also been joined by the Ukrainian ambassador.
[Hon.
Members: “Hear, hear.”]
President Zelensky, we have watched the situation unfolding in your country with increasing
concern, but also with increasing admiration for the courage and fortitude displayed by
you and your fellow Ukrainians.
Mr President, you are welcome to address Members of the House of Commons and the Lords.
You now have the floor.
[Applause.]
Volodymyr Zelensky (President of Ukraine) [Translation]: Mr Speaker, Prime Minister,
Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, I am addressing all the people of the United
Kingdom, a country with a big history.
I am addressing you as a citizen and the President
of another big country with a dream.
I want to tell you about the 13 days of war—a war that we did not start and did not want.
However, we have to conduct this war.
We do not want to lose what is ours—our country—just as you once did not want to
lose yours to the Nazis and you had to fight for Britain.
On day one, at four o’clock in the morning, we were attacked by cruise missiles.
Everybody woke up—people, children, the whole of Ukraine—and we have not slept since.
We have all been fighting for our country alongside our army.
On day two, we suffered airstrikes, and our heroic military servicemen on the island of
Zmiinyi fought when Russian forces demanded that they lay down arms.
However, we continued fighting, and they felt the force of our people, who will oppose the
occupiers until the end.
The next day, artillery started firing at us.
Our army showed us who we are, and we saw who are people and who are beasts.
On day four, we started taking people captive.
We did not torture them, remaining humane even on day four of this terrible war.
On day five, the terror against us affected our children and cities, and constant shelling
happened around the country, including on hospitals.
That did not break us, but gave us a feeling of great certainty.
On day six, Russian rockets fell on Babyn Yar, where the Nazis killed thousands of people
during the second world war.
Eighty years later, the Russians hit them for the second time.
Even churches are getting destroyed by shelling.
On day eight, we saw Russian tanks hitting the nuclear power station, and everybody got
to understand that this is a terror against everyone.
On day nine, a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly ended without the result we were
looking for.
We learned that, unfortunately, alliances do not always work properly, and the no-fly
zone was not enforced.
On day 10, Ukrainians started protesting en masse, stopping armoured vehicles with their
own hands.
On day 11, children, cities and hospitals were hit with rockets and constant shelling.
On that day, we realised that Ukrainians have become heroes—entire cities, children and
adults.
On day 12, the losses of the Russian army exceeded 10,000 people killed, including a
general.
We were given hope that there will be some kind of responsibility for these people in
court.
On day 13, the city of Mariupol was attacked by the Russian forces, and a child was killed.
The Russians did not allow any food or water, and people started panicking—they do not
have water.
Over those 13 days, over 50 children have been killed.
Those children could have lived, but these people have taken them away from us.
Ukraine was not looking for this war.
Ukrainians have not been looking to become big, but they have become big over the 13
days of this war.
We are saving people despite having to fight one of the biggest armies in the world, with
its helicopters and rockets.
The question for us now is, “To be, or not to be”.
This Shakespearean question could have been asked over the past 13 days, but I can now
give you a definitive answer: it is definitely, “To be”.
I remind you of the words that the United Kingdom has already heard because they are
important again.
We will not give up, and we will not lose.
We will fight until the end at sea and in the air.
We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost.
We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores
and in the streets.
We will fight on the banks of our rivers, like the Dnieper.
We are looking for help from civilised countries, and we are thankful for this help.
I am very grateful to you, Boris.
Please increase the pressure of sanctions against Russia and please recognise that country
as a terrorist state.
Please ensure that our Ukrainian skies are safe.
Please make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is required by the greatness
of your country.
I wish my best to Ukraine and to the United Kingdom.
[Applause.]
Mr Speaker Thank you, Mr President.
On behalf of the House of Commons, I want to thank you for speaking to us
and
for giving
us
your clear and
powerful perspective on the tragic situation facing you and your fellow
Ukrainians.
We have debated the situation in Ukraine numerous times in recent weeks, and I know we will
continue to do so, and that when we do so next your words will be resonating with us.
I want to express the solidarity of the House of Commons with you and your compatriots—[Hon.
Members: “Hear, hear.”]—and we salute the courage of the people
of Ukraine.
Our prayers are with you.
Mr Speaker I will take points of order from the leaders
of the main parties before we return to the Opposition day debate.
The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Never before in all our centuries of parliamentary democracy has the House listened to such an
address.
In a great European capital, now within range of Russian guns, President Volodymyr Zelensky
is standing firm for democracy and for freedom.
In his righteous defiance, I believe he has moved the hearts of everybody in this House.
At this moment, ordinary Ukrainians are defending their homes and their families against a brutal
assault.
They are, by their actions, inspiring millions with their courage and their devotion.
Today, one of the proudest boasts in the free world is, “Ya Ukrainets”—I am a Ukrainian.
This is a moment for us to put our political differences aside.
I know I speak for the whole House when I say that Britain and our allies are determined
to press on—to press on with supplying our Ukrainian friends with the weapons they need
to defend their homeland, as they deserve, and to press on with tightening the economic
vice around Vladimir Putin.
We will stop importing Russian oil, and my right hon.
Friend the Business Secretary will update the House on that tomorrow.
We will employ every method that we can—diplomatic, humanitarian and economic—until Vladimir
Putin has failed in this disastrous venture and Ukraine is free once more.
Hon.
Members Hear, hear!
Keir Starmer (Holborn and St Pancras) (Lab) On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Every one of us has been moved by the bravery, the resolve and the leadership of President
Zelensky.
Invading troops marched through his streets, shells rained down on his people and assassins
seek his life.
No one would have blamed him for fleeing, but instead he has stayed in Kyiv to lead
the Ukrainian people and to fight.
He has reminded us that our freedom and our democracy are invaluable.
He has prompted the world into action where, too often, we have let Putin have his way.
He has inspired the Ukrainian people to resist and he has frustrated the Russian war machine.
He has shown his strength, and we must show him and the Ukrainian people our commitment
and our support.
Labour stands for the unity at home and abroad that will isolate the Putin regime.
Labour stands for the toughest sanctions that will cripple the Russian state.
Labour stands for providing Ukraine with the arms it needs to fight off its invaders.
Labour stands with President Zelensky, with Ukraine, with democracy.
Slava Ukraini.
Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP) On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
President Zelensky, we salute you.
We stand with the people of Ukraine on the basis of the act of aggression—of the act
of war—of Putin.
We must do all that we can to send support to Ukraine and to send the weapons that they
need to defend themselves, and to make sure that we sanction the regime in Moscow, that
we deliver the clearest message to President Putin that this will end in failure for him,
and that he will face justice at the International Criminal Court.
We must stand in this House, throughout these islands, throughout the western world, in
defence of democracy, in defence of sovereignty.
Peace, justice and the sovereignty of Ukraine must prevail.
Let us make sure that we stand with our friends and that we stand with those who have been
bombed.
We must make sure that those who need our support, who need our sanctuary, will find
a welcoming hand in these islands.
Mr President, we thank you.
We salute you.
Slava Ukraini.
Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD) On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Hearing the words of President Zelensky should embolden us all.
They serve as a reminder of all that we stand for and of all that so many Ukrainians are
so bravely fighting for—a bravery exemplified by President Zelensky himself.
We should never take for granted our values of democracy, of freedom and of our security.
Though we in this House may disagree on many things, we stand together for those values,
and we stand together with the Ukrainian people.
It is right that we strengthen our support for Ukraine with military aid and with the
toughest of sanctions.
It is in that support that we should also recognise the people of Ukraine and, indeed,
President Zelensky.
I am sure the whole House would agree that President Zelensky should be granted one of
our nation’s highest honours—an honorary knighthood.
I look forward to the day when we welcome back to this House President Zelensky in person.
Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP) On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
We commend President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine and we stand with them in this
their time of strife, but our response will not be judged by the volume or strength of
our applause for President Zelensky.
It will be judged by the volume and strength of our response to his request for help—for
practical military support and for humanitarian assistance for the people of Ukraine.
We pray for their success.
We dare not let them down.
Mr Speaker I also thank the staff and the contractors
for making this happen.
When you leave the Chamber, please hand in your headsets on the way out to whoever you