There will be no just peace for Ukraine without holding Russia accountable for war crimes committed, and recognizing the territories occupied by Russia does not mean a peace formula.

This message was emphasized by Laurynas Kasciunas, Leader of the Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Minister of National Defense of Lithuania (2024) at the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“This is a full-scale war with war crimes, crimes against humanity, atrocities… If we don’t figure out how to hold Russia accountable, we won’t change anything. This is a matter of a just peace,” Laurynas Kasciunas said.

He stressed: “Now we hear proposals to hold peace negotiations, ceasefire, truce, but we must remember the annexation of Crimea. Now we say, let’s recognize the annexation as legal and give four regions in their entirety (to Russia). We will ask Russia if Ukraine can have its own Armed Forces? This is just a disgrace and a disaster!”

According to the former Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, the formula for a just peace is nothing like this.

“We want to investigate all war crimes, while under current conditions it is impossible to do this,” Laurynas Kasciunas said.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.