H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine:

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Taoiseach, dear Senators and Members of the Parliament, dear people of Ireland, this night our territory was again hit by Russian missiles.It was done cunningly and it hit civilian infrastructure. The new fuel storage depot was hit. This is viewed by Russia as a target. This is their attribute. They are destroying things that are sustaining livelihoods to people. They are hitting places where we store fuel, food storage depots, agricultural equipment and fields. They are putting mines into the fields. They have also blocked all of our seaports, together with the vessels that already had agricultural cargos for export. Why are they doing this? Because for them, hunger is also a weapon — a weapon against us ordinary people as an instrument of domination. Ukraine is one of the leading food-supplying countries in the world. This is not just about the deficit and the threat of hunger for more than dozens of countries, Asia and Africa; it is about even more because there will be a shortage of food and the prices will go up. This is reality for millions of people who are hungry. It will be more difficult for them to feed their families, especially in north Africa.

They are undermining our seeding time, they are destroying our infrastructure and they are deliberately provoking the food crisis. What will happen as the result of this crisis? At the least, there will be political turbulence. At a maximum, there will be binges of violence and new refugees looking to save their lives. Russia is using this hunger weapon.

The worst thing is the city of Mariupol. This city of 500,000 inhabitants was put under siege and Russia has blocked access from the soil and from the sea. They are blocking the humanitarian cargo. They are not allowing anything to come through, neither water nor medication. While it was snowing, people could melt the snow to get water. Now they do not have even that.

They are bombing 24-7. There are air strikes and bombings in Mariupol. There is no single house left intact in a city of half a million. None. The dead and killed were simply buried in the yards of the condominiums. In many cases, they could not even do that: the bodies were just left there lying on the streets and in the remnants of the buildings and basements. We do not know how many citizens of Mariupol have been killed by Russia, but we know for sure this was part of general occupation tactics. They have done the same or they have attempted to do the same with the cities of Chernihiv, Sumy, Okhtyrka, Kharkiv, Izyum, Volnovakha and many other Ukrainian cities. Maybe you have not heard those geographic names yet but this is about millions of people that Russia has been continually trying to destroy.

When you hear these things, it may seem that this is not possible. It may seem that none in the present-day world would dare to do that, but these are real facts. The fact is that Mariupol citizens were drawing the maps of how to find the bodies of the dead who were buried in their yards. The fact is that Russian occupants were killing people on the roads when they were trying to escape. They blocked cities. Until today on the Ukrainian highways we have hundreds of shot in burned cars. The fact is that Russian soldiers were not even trying to take these bodies out of the streets. While Bucha and Irpin were under occupation, these dead bodies were simply lying on the streets, on the sideways, in the yards of the houses, anywhere. The fact is that in the 42 days of the all-out Russian war, at least 167 children have been killed in Ukraine.We do not yet know all the atrocities of Mariupol and the victims in all the areas of Ukraine where the fighting is still going on. The fact is that, as a result of Russian shelling, 927 educational institutions and 258 hospitals were damaged. The Russians even shot at 78 ambulances. They were targeting even churches and shelters where they knew for sure there was nobody but women and children. This is a fact.

The country that is doing this does not deserve to be in the circle of civilised countries. It should be held responsible for everything it has done on Ukrainian soil. The Russians have come to Ukraine as a colonising army. Their state protagonists and their politicians are not even concealing what they want. In the 21st century, they are looking at their country as a colonial empire which allegedly has the right to subdue neighbouring people, destroy the foundations of their independent life and destroy their identity, everything that makes us Ukrainians. Russian soldiers were deliberately looking for and killing teachers in the occupied districts. They are abducting local government leaders and they are killing community leaders. Together with the Russian army, there were special groups coming in who were trying to destroy any political opposition.

Now, when we are hearing new rhetoric about the sanctions against the Russian opposition, I cannot tolerate any indecisiveness after everything we have gone through in Ukraine and after everything that Russian troops have done. Today, when the world knows about the crimes against our people, we still have to convince even some European companies to abandon the Russian market. We still have to convince foreign politicians that we need to cut any ties of Russian banks with the global financial system. We still have to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot feed the Russian military machine with new sources of funding.

Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Ireland have been supporting good and have been supporting Ukraine since the very first days. This is a fact. They did not doubt starting to help us; they began doing this right away. Although Ireland is a neutral country, it has not remained neutral to the disaster and to the mishaps that Russia has brought to Ukraine. I am grateful to every citizen of Ireland. Thank you for supporting sanctions against Russia, thank you for the humanitarian and financial support extended to our country and thank you for your care of our Ukrainian people who found shelter on your land. Think about the fact that, as of today, 10 million Ukrainians have been left without shelter by Russia. They had to leave their native cities because of this war. This is something we cannot come to grips with. It means that Russia has not yet abandoned its plans. It is still looking to subdue and occupy all the Ukrainian people.

We want you to help us to make sure that Russia will start looking for peace and leave us alone. I ask you to show more leadership in our anti-war coalition. I ask you to convince EU partners to introduce even more rigid sanctions against Russia that would really make sure that the Russian war machine will stop. We have to put an end to trading with Russia. We have to cut the ties of Russian banks to the global system and cut the sources of their income from oil that they use for their weapons and for killing.There are mechanisms through which this can be done. The only thing we are lacking is a principled approach from some political and business leaders who still think war and war crimes are not as horrific as financial losses. I am sure Ireland's leadership can make a difference and change this. I am sure that the whole of Europe will be able to stop this war and bring peace and stability to the east of Europe. We cannot delay any longer. The longer Russia's aggression continues, the worse the consequences will be not only for our Continent, but for neighbouring regions.

I say to Members and to the people of Ireland that our principled approach and courage have already turned a new page in the relationship between Ukraine and Ireland. Our mutual understanding and mutual respect is already at a level whereby it is only a question of time before we can start living in a common European home. Thank you for Ireland's support for the accelerated procedure to provide membership of the EU to Ukraine. With your support, the process will be even faster and beneficial to both our nations. We need to start thinking about the restoration of our country after the war. We are inviting leading countries of the world to participate in rebuilding and restoring Ukraine. Of course, Ireland is always welcome to participate, for example, in Kherson Oblast. Ireland is known for its skill in valueing lives, its community development experience and its economic potential. Let us bring our efforts together and show that, jointly, Ukraine and Ireland can do much more than the biggest country in the world was trying to destroy. I am grateful to Ireland. Slava Ukraini.