Ukraine's material and human losses are only increasing, the country's ambassador to Montenegro, Oleg Gerasimenko, announced today.
He said this at a panel discussion marking the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, which is being held at the European House in Podgorica.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the third anniversary will be marked today.
Gerasimenko said this was the third time he had participated in events marking the anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine.
As he pointed out, when he spoke at the first anniversary, he expected that he would not make it to the third.
He said that everything he said earlier is still relevant.
"Our losses, human and material, are only growing," he said.
Gerasimenko said that Russia's aggressive war is the largest in Europe since World War II.
He added that "Russian aggression did not begin in 2022, but in 2014 with the occupation of the Donbas region."
"The lack of a strong response in 2014 led to the war in 2022. On the eve of the start of the war in 2022, we had a ceasefire regime in Donbas. Over 200 peace talks have been held since 2014, and Russia has violated them all," Gerasimenko pointed out.
As he said, Russian officials say they are not planning an attack on Europe and that their military aspirations end with Ukraine.
"The international community, and above all the EU, did not betray Ukraine. They continued to help," he said, adding that Montenegro was one of the countries that helped Ukraine.
He thanked "Montenegrin friends for their solidarity."
"The security of Ukraine, Europe and the United States is indivisible," Gerasimenko stressed.
Czech Ambassador to Montenegro Janina Hrebičkova said that today was a sad occasion for the gathering and thanked Ukraine for defending its own and European peace.
"When Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, we didn't wake up enough," she pointed out.
Hrebickova said that Russia's territorial conquests are minimal.
She quoted Kaja Kalas, who said that "Russia is doing everything to divide us."
"The Czech people have supported Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and the Czech Prime Minister said yesterday, in a square in Prague, that our country has received the most Ukrainian refugees per capita," Hrebickova said.
She added that they are helping Ukraine and reducing the negative impacts of war globally.
Khrebičkova stressed that her country has a negative experience from Munich in 1939, and that it will not recognize "the occupied territories of Ukraine as part of Russia."
"We must put pressure on Russia, not Ukraine, in the negotiations. Russia's defeat must send a signal to other aggressor and authoritarian regimes around us," she stressed.
The Deputy Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Montenegro, Riccardo Seri, said that today's date is sad, but that he is happy to be among friends.
"Russian aggression is a challenge for all of Europe. History taught us in 1939 that rewarding aggression only leads to new aggression. The EU stands united and we consider the territory of Ukraine to be indivisible," he said.
Seri said that Montenegro contributed more than ten million euros in aid, and that per capita, along with the Czech Republic, it helped the most.
"Recent defense allocations are an indicator of Montenegro's commitment to collective security," he believes.
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