The war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, which has become the Kremlin’s war against the entire Free World, is in its third year. And while Putin is waging this war in earnest, using all sorts of methods of struggle, from direct military invasion of Ukraine to sabotage and cyberattacks on Western infrastructure, the Free World has so far responded weakly, not fully realizing the extent of the threat posed by Putin’s regime.
Western support for Ukraine is still insufficient to seriously defeat Putin on the battlefield. This support is barely enough to contain the ongoing invader onslaught on Ukraine. Major Ukrainian cities, most notably Kharkiv, are under threat.
The West’s sanctions policy as it has been pursued so far has not yielded any tangible results, although it is causing some damage to the Russian economy, especially to certain sectors of the economy. The active application of secondary sanctions should eventually lead to a weakening of Putin’s military machine and, as a consequence, to the inability to continue fighting at the same intensity.
In view of the above, we deem it necessary to state the following:
We invariably support Ukraine in its struggle against Putin’s military aggression, unconditionally recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine and consider inadmissible any attempts to force Ukraine into a ceasefire based on recognition of the Kremlin’s territorial acquisitions. Legalization of Putin’s territorial acquisitions will not appease the aggressor, but, on the contrary, will provoke him to new episodes of military aggression, including against NATO countries.
We appeal to all Russian democratic forces to provide Ukraine with maximum support in the fight against Putin’s aggression. Ukraine’s struggle against Putinism is part of our common struggle for freedom!
We call on the countries of the Free World to increase military and financial support for Ukraine to the extent that would make its victory on the battlefield possible. Only a convincing defeat can force Putin to stop his aggression and undermine the legitimacy of his regime in Russia.
Given that the Russian volunteers fighting against Putinism in Ukraine have not yet become a significant factor in this war, we appeal to the entire Russian opposition to support the Russian volunteer units as much as possible in all possible ways. Direct public support, collecting donations for these units, reposting their materials –
these are all forms of support that can be given to these brave people. Do not turn your backs on your compatriots who have decided to fight Putin’s tyranny with weapons in their hands.
We are convinced that these units can become the basis for the formation of a larger Russian Liberation Army. We are ready to take part in the formation of such an army.
We call on the EU countries to speed up the process of using Russian assets seized in the EU to channel them to support Ukraine.
We call on the Ukrainian authorities and all countries of the anti-Putin democratic coalition to start a systematic dialog with the Russian opposition, to join efforts aimed at forming a strategy and tactics to counter Putin’s regime, which by joint efforts should be dismantled, which will be the main outcome of the victory of Ukraine and the entire democratic coalition.
We argue that the elimination of Putin’s regime should be the first step in Russia’s departure from the imperial path of development.
We declare that the successful deputinization and deimperialization of Russia is impossible without a trial of Russian war criminals who committed their crimes against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We will contribute in every possible way to the collection of evidence for this trial.
Participants of the Free Russia Forum Conference in Warsaw and members of the FRF Council
May 14, 2024
