1/14 Every day that Ukraine stands and fights, counts. It increases pressure on Kremlin at home. It increases domestic pressure on Western governments to help Ukraine and to further isolate Russia.

@UA_Emb_FI
@verkhovna_rada

2/14 I am glad to see the rest of the world is slowly but steadily getting its act together. Every Stinger, every Javelin, every ballistic vest, every 7.62x39 helps Ukraine to stand and fight for another day.

3/14 The sanctions so far go further than I (pessimistically) expected. More is needed, though. Russia must be isolated politically, economically, diplomatically, culturally. We also need travel restrictions that hit ordinary Russian citizens.

4/14 No one should go to Russia, no one from Russia should be allowed anywhere. Mr Putin has remained popular because Russians do not suffer enough for his criminal behaviour.

It is not about guilt or innocence. It is about effect.

5/14 What *should* be done is not always politically realistic, and this is a fact of life that a decision-maker must accept, frustrating as it is.

6/14 NATO – or anyone – *should* send not only material but also troops to the western half of Ukraine (Правобережжя), where there are no Russian land-forces yet, and take control of the skies.

7/14 No one wants a confrontation with Russia, which is understandable, but Russia does not want it either. It is a question of who gets there first and fills the vacuum.

8/14 Russia will not use nuclear weapons. The Russian leadership is corrupt and criminal but not irrational, even if it pretends to be.

9/14 A military intervention in Western Ukraine would spare us all a lot of grief, blood, and tears. It would free Ukrainians to fight in the east, and it would decrease the likelihood of massive waves of refugees into the rest of Europe.

10/14 It would also ensure that the legal government of Ukraine can function inside Ukraine even if the capital and the east are overrun.

11/14 This is not only about Ukraine. If Russia feels it can get away with a war of conquest in Europe, no one is safe. Non-intervention is postponing the inevitable, as it was is 1939.

12/14 As and if sending troops is not on the table for now, every free country must send to Ukraine the kind of material that is needed. Ukraine has already shown it will fight if given the opportunity.

13/14 In Afghanistan, the president and his friends packed the money and flew to safety as the enemy approached the capital. In Ukraine, the current and former presidents, ministers and parliamentarians take to the streets with Kalashnikovs.

14/14 Every day that you fight is poison for the Kremlin. Every day that you fight makes it more difficult for the West to stand aside.

Слава Україні!