H.E. Mr. Vincent Gu?rend:

I am glad to answer that question, which is very important and has been the subject of many comments in the press, including here in Ireland. When the President said that, it was in reaction to many remarks and comments made, particularly in the United States three weeks or a month ago, when things were looking a little better for the Ukrainian army than they do now. There was a sense that a victory for Ukraine was within reach pretty soon and that we should teach Russia a lesson once and for all in order that Russia should not be tempted anytime soon to cross the line again. There were some very high-level US decision makers making such remarks. We still believe not only that those remarks are slightly dangerous but also that the idea of teaching Russia lessons is dangerous. That is not because we believe that what Russia has done over the past six months is permissible or admissible but, rather, because the history of the European Continent over centuries, certainly over the past 100 years, has taught us very painfully that if one teaches a country a lesson for having invaded a neighbour, it bounces back very strongly a generation later.

Just look at the First World War in this respect. Looking at the Franco-German conflicts, there was a war in 1870 in which the Germans humiliated us and we fought hard to recover the province we had ceded. The idea of teaching one's neighbour a lesson is very dangerous. As much as we support sanctions and strongly consider that the full territorial integrity of Ukraine should be restored, including Ukraine, as well as that of Georgia, with the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia at the same time, we believe it is dangerous, when speaking about Russia, though not Mr. Putin, to engage in a narrative and strategy with an objective of humiliating a country. We would then, in one generation's time, see serious consequences. We have to defeat Russia. We want Ukraine to win. We have to put all efforts possible towards the objective of Ukraine winning this war and seeing Russia lose it, but with no humiliation.