On 22 February 2024, at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, CCRS organized a roundtable discussion, featuring H.E. Pavlo Klimkin, Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, and H.E. Igor Driesmans, EU Ambassador to Cambodia. The discussion was moderated by Amb. Pou Sothirak, CCRS’ Distinguished Senior Advisor.
More than 80 people participated in the event, including the Ambassador of France to Cambodia, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Cambodia (via online), other members of the diplomatic corps from embassies of the European Union, Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Singapore and Vietnam, government officials, academics, think tankers, CCRS’ researchers, members of the press as well as university students.
At the opening session, Mr. Him Raksmey, Executive Director of CCRS, warmly welcomed the distinguished participants to the event. He said CCRS was deeply privileged to host this roundtable discussion. We extended sincere appreciations for the valuable support given by Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia to CCRS for making this roundtable possible. He stated that the two eminent speakers would critically discuss what has been transpired regarding latest developments in the Russia’s aggression against Ukraine for the past 10 years including full-scale invasion for the past two years, and what it means for the global and regional security. With their presentation, participants would gain better insights on how important it is to uphold the rules-based international order and how the international community can work together to ensure “might is right” has no place in the prevailing international order.
During scene-setting remarks, Amb. Pou Sothirak highlighted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 provokes a geopolitical risk, setting Europe on fire, and rendering NATO and the U.S. no choice but to provide military support to Ukraine to the fight for its independence. It is no longer just a war between Russia and Ukraine, but the conflict is spilled over and became known as proxy war between Russia and the EU along with the US. This war affects not just the European Union but the entire world, creating instabilities everywhere and now known as the largest crisis for the UN global order. He also stressed that in Southeast Asia, there are ongoing concerns about the war in Ukraine will have ramifications that could affect ASEAN relevance. He stressed that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was a threat to the liberal international system since the end of World War 2 as well as disputing the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
H.E. Pavlo Klimkin, Former Foreign Minister of Ukraine gave a remarkable presentation with abundant humility through ZOOM link from Kyiv. He said Ukrainians have lived under the war for 10 years, with two years under the full-scale invasion. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s strategic territory of Crimea, and since then, there has been a conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine. He stressed that the war is not a “proxy war”, but rather a war between Ukraine and Russia where Ukrainians desire to live with complete freedom and independent away from Russia’s domination. He then stated that with the “globalization of security”, the War in Ukraine is also a “fundamental challenge” for the security of Europe and the international community, including Southeast Asia and Cambodia. He expressed appreciation for Cambodia and other countries for supporting Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as well as supporting the war-torn country in terms of humanitarian assistance. He called for “strategic leadership” from the United Nations Security Council to safeguard the peace, stability, and sovereignty of Ukraine. Mr. Klimkin stressed that the brave people of Ukraine pursue an outright victory in retaking the territories lost over the past year and called for the continuation of war materiel be sent to support his country’s fight for independent.
After that, the EU Ambassador to Cambodia, H.E. Igor Driesmans recalled a grim second anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine. He noted that the devastated effects of the War in Ukraine have over the effect of humanitarian suffering as well as political and economic instability in the world. For European security, the Russian invasion of Ukraine must always be considered beyond the war between the two countries Ukraine and Russia in order to define EU’s strategic vision and interests in defending rule based international order. The EU provided EUR 85 billion (around USD 92 billion) in terms of humanitarian, economic, and military support, with EUR 28 billion (USD 30 billion) for substantial military assistance. He stressed that “Cambodians can relate to the plight of the Ukrainian people” and then expressed his appreciation towards Cambodia for voting to condemn Russia at UNGA. He stressed the EU’s firm commitment in support of Ukraine’s fight for its independence.
The panel discussion was interactive between the speakers and participants. Distinguished speakers were asked to provide an overall assessment of the balance of force on the ground in Ukraine; whether diplomacy can play an effective role in ending this war; what role can Cambodia and EU play to help Ukraine? How to promote accountability at UNSC, where Russia is a permanent member, for states that violate the principles of the UN Charter? Who will last longer, Ukraine or Russia in what seem to be a marathon battle between the two sides? What will be the end game of this miserable war?
Both H.E. Klimkin and H.E. Driesmans took turn to answers some of above questions convincingly.
To conclude the Roundtable, Amb. Pou Sothirak thanked the two distinguished speakers for sharing their valuable perspectives and expressed sincere appreciation to Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia for kindly supporting this event. The roundtable has been a success due to strong collaborations among the EU Delegation in Cambodia, the Embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam, and all CCRS’ researchers.
The roundtable was concluded in a cordial atmosphere. For more details of this Roundtable, please listen to this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ8Xoq9d3VV9JV42i_gijqQ
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