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“Russia Has No Intention to Occupy Ukraine”
– Russian Ambassador Galuzin, Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, February 25, 2022
Since Russia’s soon-to-be-departing Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Yurievich Galuzin last appeared at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in February and promised that Russia did not intend to occupy Ukraine, here’s what has happened: Russian forces have killed over 6,000 Ukrainian civilians, including children. Moscow has bombed hundreds of hospitals, schools, and churches. Russia’s military has tortured, mutilated, and raped Ukrainian citizens and looted Ukrainian homes. Putin’s attempt to illegally annex four regions of Ukraine was rejected by the vast majority of the nations of the world. Hundreds of thousands of Russia’s best and brightest are fleeing the country. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the UN Charter, to which it is a signatory.
When Ambassador Galuzin appears again at the FCCJ, a well-established institution in democratic Japan, we the undersigned expect to see the outgoing Ambassador answer for Russia’s war in Ukraine. We hope to see the Ambassador deal with, at a minimum, the five broad sets of issues below – and his answers need to be honest and factually-accurate. Unlike how the Kremlin treats the Russian public, deception and disinformation are not accepted at the FCCJ. Free and open societies such as ours expect more than how the Russian government treats its own people.
The international community remains united in its condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal war on Ukraine. Putin’s mouthpieces – whether they are serving as Moscow’s ambassador to Japan or in any other capacity around the world – must not be allowed to spread their falsehoods any longer.
Signed,
Rahm Emanuel
Ambassador of the United States of America
Jean-Eric Paquet
Ambassador of the European Union
Gjergj Teneqexhiu
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Peter Roberts
Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Australia
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Marieta Arabadjieva de Descalzi
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Ian G. McKay
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