Now let’s lift these restrictions.
Let me repeat what I said in my speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month. We can continue to condemn Russia’s brutal atrocities, but history will condemn us if we do not take effective action against the violence. And I agree with former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said we could have provided military assistance to Ukraine before 2022 and perhaps prevented this war.
I have been to Ukraine three times since this conflict began. On a recent trip, just a month ago, I was thinking as I visited a power plant that had been reduced to ruins by a missile fired from within Russia. What a deliberate act of cruelty. Another war crime was committed with the intention of breaking the patience of Ukrainians and leaving them without electricity in the winter. This means there is no running water or plumbing in urban areas and no possibility of going to work or school.
When it comes to achieving its imperial ambitions in Ukraine and Europe, Russia does not consider the cost, whether in money or people. We must make Russia understand that no country can impose its will on its neighbors through war. And that means Russia cannot win this war.
In June 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan gave a speech in West Berlin and made a simple but powerful appeal to the Wall’s sentries: “Tear down this wall!” And two and a half years later, on November 9, 1989, Berliners did just that.
Decades later, we paradoxically built a wall against ourselves, forcing Ukraine to fight from behind, limping along to face new Russian attacks and enduring more casualties every day.
So, to paraphrase Reagan, I appeal to all of us: Let’s break down this wall of limitation!
