We are defending ourselves against the most anti-European force in the modern world — Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The President of Ukraine spoke in the European Parliament, where he arrived for the EU leaders' summit after his visits to the UK and France. 

"The European way of life is when everyone matters; when there is the rule of law; when states strive to be social and societies to be open; when diversity is a value and different values are united by fair equality; when borders are not violated, but their crossing is not felt; when people believe in tomorrow and are ready to go to the squares to fight for their tomorrow; when there is only one barrier between the President and the protester — and that is fair elections. This is our Europe, these are our rules and lifestyle. And for Ukraine, this is the way home.

Now I am here to defend the way home for my people: all Ukrainians of different ages, different political beliefs, different social status and views on religion, with different backgrounds, but one European history with all of you. 

They are trying to destroy the Ukrainian and European way of life with an all-out war to destroy the European way for all 27 countries of the European Union. We will not allow this to happen. This all-out war that Russia has unleashed is not just about territory, its threat lies only in the fact that there is a dictator with huge stockpiles of Soviet weapons and supplies from other dictatorships, including the Iranian regime.

In order to be able to wage this war, the Kremlin has cynically and consistently destroyed for years what we see as the foundation of our Europe. In Russia, the sacred value of human life has been completely destroyed — no one matters to the authorities there. For the Kremlin, all 140 million Russian citizens are just bodies capable of carrying weapons into Ukraine. The rule of violence and obedience are the rules of life there instead of law.

The Russian regime not only hates any sociality and diversity, but also deliberately invests in xenophobia and tries to make all the inhuman things that happened in the 1930s and 1940s part of the norm on our continent. Only our victory will guarantee each of the common European values."

The President thanked everyone who supported Ukraine in its struggle, helped Ukrainians and hosted them in their countries, who protested and fought against Russian disinformation. Zelenskyy also thanked European leaders for their military aid and for refusing to depend on Russian fuel.