By Xhabir Deralla

Welcome to the international conference Ukraine and the World: Resisting Aggression, Defeating Authoritarianism. This conference is organized by CIVIL – Center for Freedom (North Macedonia), Media Dialogue and Youth4Media (Germany), and the New European People’s Forum (international), founding members of the #DefendingDemocracy Initiative (international).

We started organizing this conference before the shocking statements from the U.S. leadership—an unprecedented and inexcusable moment that does nothing but embolden Putin’s aggression, undermine Ukraine’s fight for survival, and empower authoritarianism worldwide.

And yet, this is exactly why we are here today. Because silence and hesitation are no longer an option. Because every delay, every excuse, every act of cowardice in the face of Russian terror carries a cost—paid in Ukrainian lives.

Russia’s war against Ukraine didn’t start in 2022. It started in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. For a decade now, Ukraine has been resisting the Kremlin’s imperial aggression. And for three years, Ukraine has been fighting off a full-scale invasion—a war Putin thought he’d win in three days. Well, here we are, and Ukraine is still standing. Still fighting. Still proving that democracy, freedom, and national dignity cannot be crushed by tanks and terror.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t just war. It’s terrorism. Russia is deliberately targeting civilians—missiles raining down on homes, schools, hospitals. Drones sent to strike apartment buildings in the middle of the night. Maternity wards turned to rubble. Children’s playgrounds shredded by cluster bombs. Mass graves filled with innocent people who were executed just for being Ukrainian.

And then there’s Russia’s winter terror. Systematic attacks on energy infrastructure—power stations, heating plants, water supplies—ensuring that if Ukrainians don’t die from explosions, they freeze to death in the dark. A medieval siege by modern means, designed not just to conquer, but to erase an entire nation. This is not collateral damage. This is strategy. This is genocide.

And yet, Putin is not only waging war in Ukraine. His war extends far beyond the frontlines. His weapons include disinformation, propaganda, and hybrid warfare tactics aimed directly at the democratic West. He manipulates elections, funds extremist movements, and floods the public space with lies. He buys politicians and weakens institutions. This war doesn’t stop at Ukraine’s borders. Putin’s war reaches Washington, Berlin, Brussels, London, Skopje, Belgrade, and beyond.

And how does the West respond? With hesitation. With delays. With empty statements about being “deeply concerned.”

Appeasement didn’t work in the past. It won’t work now. It won’t work—ever.

Is that really so difficult to comprehend? Are Trump and his vice president just naive, or is there a different game at play? The sane part of the world sees that there is much more at play here. And this game? It’s more than dangerous. It’s immoral.

Every compromise with Putin is a betrayal. A betrayal of justice. A betrayal of Ukraine. A betrayal of the very principles that hold the free world together—the principles of humanity.

And let’s be clear: Every hesitation, every excuse, every hand-wringing debate in Western capitals costs lives. While politicians calculate risks, Ukrainians bury their children.

There can be no peace until Ukraine liberates all its territories—Crimea, Donbas, everything. There can be no peace until Russia is held accountable for every crime, every massacre, every child stolen from their home.

The choice is simple: stand with Ukraine until victory, or prepare for a world where dictators redraw borders by force and democracy is nothing more than a memory.

History has already warned us. This time, we must listen.