Yermak in Davos: 'Choice is simple: either we lose and vanish or we win and live on'

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has named five points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which should be considered at the fourth meeting of national security advisors and foreign policy advisors to the heads of state in Davos.

He said this in a post on his Telegram channel, Ukrinform reports.

According to Yermak, 81 countries and international organizations are among the participants of this meeting. At the previous meeting held in Malta, there were 66 participants.

According to him, 39 countries from Europe, 18 from Asia, 12 from Africa, 6 from South America, 3 from North America, and 2 from Oceania delegated their representatives to Davos.

"A good sign is the continuous growth in the number of countries joining efforts on the joint action plan based on the Ukrainian Peace Formula. It's very encouraging that the Global South is increasingly getting involved in our work. This indicates an understanding that this conflict in Europe is a challenge for all of humanity," Yermak said.

According to him, "today in Davos we are talking about world order and justice."

Yermak thanked Switzerland for hosting the event, as it recently joined the consultations at the advisory level and immediately got involved.

Addressing the attendees, he spoke about the consequences of Russia's recent massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, the victims of the attacks among civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

He reiterated that a simple ceasefire would not end the Russian aggression in Ukraine, but would only give the attacker a pause to build up its forces.

"It's definitely not the path to peace. The Russians do not want peace. They want domination. So, the choice is simple: either we lose and vanish – or win and live on. And we are fighting," Yermak said.

He also recalled that over the two years of the full-scale war, Ukrainian forces have liberated more than 50% of the territory occupied by Russia and, with small naval capabilities of their own, destroyed a fifth of the potential of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and secured the Black Sea.

"If international law and Ukraine's territorial integrity are not restored, any aggressor anywhere in the world will be able to seize a piece of any country tomorrow and hold fake elections there. The peace that Ukraine seeks must guarantee its survival, integrity, sovereignty, and development. And it must prevent the recurrence of aggression. Together, we have created a comprehensive framework to achieve such peace. Its elements are closely interlinked, and this is the only way forward," Yermak said.

He noted that today's fourth advisors meeting in Davos would be a logical continuation of the third meeting in Malta, where the first five points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula were discussed, namely nuclear security, food and energy security, the release of prisoners and deportees, including children, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"Here, we will work on five more points, including the withdrawal of Russian troops, the restoration of justice, environmental security, preventing a recurrence of war, and confirming the end of the war. As in Malta, each of these points will be presented by countries that are co-leaders in the respective tracks of the Formula. I thank them for their active stance," Yermak said.

According to him, the participants of today's meeting should decide on further actions, in particular, to agree on the format of the Global Peace Summit.

Yermak said a platform was needed "to fix specific parts of our comprehensive plan."

"To move forward, it is necessary to agree on the format of the constituent Peace Summit. I hope we will be able to find an acceptable option. This will allow us to start developing detailed roadmaps for each of the Formula's points. The co-leaders in the respective tracks could host thematic conferences to finalize the algorithms for their implementation," he said.

The opening of the fourth meeting of advisors in Davos was also attended by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, President of the WEF, and Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councilor for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

Today, as part of the fourth meeting of advisors in Davos, two special sessions will be held to further the points of the Peace Formula presented in Malta on food security and humanitarian aspects of war.

Photo credit: Andriy Yermak / Telegram