Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia two years ago was unprovoked, unlawful and unjustifiable. Thousands of civilians have been killed and critical infrastructure has been destroyed on a massive scale. It is clear that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine and it must be held accountable through the international courts, specifically the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. I welcome the financial support that Ireland has given to pursue these cases. Unfortunately, the war has become protracted and Ukraine’s counter offensive has stalled. It does seem at this time that Ukraine’s defence is faltering. Russia cannot be allowed to succeed in the war. Europe has to stay the course in this regard. There is too much at stake, including Europe’s own future peace and security. Regretfully, the international community for many years adopted a policy of appeasement of Russia. It appeased as regards Crimea and it appeased as regards Syria. Appeasing Russia over Ukraine will not work and any future peace deal will first and foremost have to satisfy Ukraine.

Sadly it seems that support for Ukraine as observed in the UN has weakened. Arab states, but also countries in the global south, are not as supportive of the European view. This can be put down in part to the lack of support in the EU for the people of Gaza. These countries see an inconsistency of approach and that is most unfortunate.

I too want to pay tribute to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic penal colony in the past few days. There is no doubt he was poisoned by Putin - proof, if any was needed, of the ruthless and repressive regime over which Putin presides. Alexei Navalny was a brave man and a hero in many respects who paid the ultimate price. I pay tribute to his wife, Yulia, who is now carrying on the fight and I hope for her sake and the sake of her family that his remains will be released without any further delay and fully intact.

The imposition of sanctions by the EU is also another weapon in our armoury. I hope that agreement can be reached on the proposed 13th round of sanctions. It has to be said, however, that sanctions do not appear to be as effective as we first thought as the Russian war effort continues. These sanctions need to be rigidly enforced, and countries and corporations should be prevented from getting around them. We also need to make progress on using frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Ireland continues to support Ukraine in so many ways. We have opened up our communities to Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection who are fleeing their war-torn country. We contribute to bilateral aid and humanitarian assistance. We have fully supported all EU initiatives, including the provision of non-lethal assistance through the European peace facility. We provide training under the EU military assistance mission. I warmly welcome the agreement reached at the recent special European Council meeting on providing €50 billion to Ukraine - the so-called Ukraine facility - over the next four years. We have also fully supported the opening of accession talks with Ukraine for membership of the EU and that is as it should be.

I note the comments made in recent days by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste about the size of the Russian embassy in Dublin. It seems that the embassy is engaged in spying activities. I welcome the announcement that no new visas for new staff of the embassy are being issued and that it is proposed to limit numbers there to 15.

As we know, elections to the European Parliament will take place in June. If people think that the situation in Ukraine is hopeless and they do not know what to do, the one thing they can do is ensure they do not vote pro-Russian MEPs back into the new parliament. I will leave it at that. Like others, I welcome the Ukrainian ambassador to the Chamber and I thank her for all of her briefings over the past two years on the awful events taking place in her country.

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