Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As regards the European position on the summit in Switzerland, which has been some time in the making, President Zelenskyy over a year ago, I would say, published or produced his ten-point peace plan, and it is on that framework that European member states, particularly Ireland, will be focused. The Taoiseach discussed the summit with President Zelenskyy during their recent phone call, on 9 May. We support the Ukrainian peace plan under Article 2 of the UN Charter in terms of self-determination and the right to territorial integrity. In essence, it is the first step to bring all the world regions together to discuss a future peace process. We are doing significant work with our partners in the global south on trying to develop support for this initiative. We are also focusing on food security aspects of the peace plan and on accountability. We have done some work on nuclear safety as well, I think. The IAEA has been very helpful in briefing FAC members repeatedly on the challenges around Zaporizhzhia. The last presentation was a bit more positive than the previous one, but since then I have noticed there has been further activity around Zaporizhzhia, which is not encouraging. It is fairly risky behaviour in terms of kinetic activity in and around the plant, so that is what we are focused on.

We have no sense that Russia is interested in peace at the moment. Russia is indicating no interest in any engagement on a peace process or a peace dialogue at all. I always say to members that I always recall that prior to the war beginning, and this has got lost in a number of commentaries in the Houses of the Oireachtas, Chancellor Scholz did everything he possibly could to prevent a Russian invasion, meeting with President Putin and urging him not to go in. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, went to Moscow to prevent an invasion. I note that some Members of the European Parliament and others have somehow come to the conclusion of labelling this a kind of EU-NATO proxy war, which to me is bizarre and I just want to nail that here. It is nothing of the sort because the two principal European leaders, among others, including Chancellor Merkel before Chancellor Scholz, strived with might and main to stop this war and went to meet President Putin. I spoke to Chancellor Scholz. He told me personally about the meeting, what transpired and the discussion. President Macron did likewise. That is the true story. Sometimes we need to put all the ideological rhetoric to one side. This was a landgrab. It was a desire to take out what is perceived to be an unfriendly government in Ukraine and a model of democracy that sits uncomfortably with the very repressive Russian regime. Those are my observations on the matter.

I am not going to pretend that I am a military expert. The pendulum has swung in terms of the military activity. I am appalled by the loss of human life. I am appalled by the decision of the Russian President to send so many young people to their deaths. The war has been of the nature of the First World War, the Second World War and 21st-century warfare in terms of drones and technology. Some of the battles have been described as - I hate using the phrase - waves and waves of humankind, with people just thrown onto the front, then the next group thrown onto the front. In some of the towns, people were literally trying to get by corpses, the corpses had fallen so thickly on the streets. Dmytro Kuleba said that to us on one occasion. Thousands of young Ukrainians are losing their lives. This is a horrible war, and there is no justification for the aggression, in my view. Whether the security reinforcements Ukraine has now received or will be in the process of receiving from the United States in particular will enable it to defend more resiliently its lines is what we have to wait and see now. Members have seen in recent days that Russia has broken through some villages on the east. Russia is really pushing hard now to see how much ground it can attain. In my view, its aim probably still is to go as far as it possibly can, so the omens are not good at this time.

There has been a massive assault on the energy infrastructure. About 80% of energy installations, we are now told, have been attacked in recent months.