Zelensky: Ukraine helped the West find itself again

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky declared his country a “world leader” in a speech to parliament today, telling MPs to remain united in the face of Russian aggression and praising Ukrainians for helping the West “find itself again”.

Zelensky, in an annual speech held behind closed doors because of the war with Russia, said that its military resistance Ukrainian against the Kremlin has revived belief in values ​​around the world.

“Thanks to our unity we achieved what almost no one in the world believed. Hardly anyone – except us,” he told MPs, his cabinet, other senior officials and top military officers.

“Our national colors are today an international symbol of courage and non-submission throughout the world,” he said in the 45-minute speech.

The 44-year-old Ukrainian leader delivered his speech, speaking in his characteristic husky voice from the floor of the Verkhovna Rada parliament, wearing a simple black sweatshirt, as lawmakers occasionally applauded.

The speech focused largely on the war, now in its 11th month, but Zelensky also touched on decentralizing the energy system and rebuilding a strong state. Thanking Western partners for arms supplies, Zelensky also noted that Ukraine will create a domestic defense industry that “will be one of the strongest in Europe and the world.”

Zelensky added in his speech that Ukraine had secured the release of 1,456 prisoners of war since the start of the Russian invasion, in a series of prisoner exchanges with Moscow.

Russia is believed to be holding thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of war, but exact figures are not known.

Zelensky said the Ukrainian war effort helped the European Union to rally. Ukraine has applied to join both the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

“Ukraine has become one of the world leaders”, he said.

“For more than 10 months this year, we helped them all. We helped the West to find itself again, to return to the world arena and feel how the West prevails. No one in the West is afraid or will be afraid of Russia,” concluded Zelensky.