JOINT STATEMENT OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES OF UKRAINE

Appeal to the United States of America and the European Union on the unacceptability of launching Nord Stream-2

Kyiv, July 21, 2021

The Revoluon of Dignity in 2014 in Ukraine ulmately resolved Ukraine's geopolical choice and defined the development of our country as a leader in democracy, reform, the rule of law and respect for human rights in Central and Eastern Europe. A successful Ukraine remains the only hope for Russians, Belarusians, Armenians and other peoples in the post-Soviet space to successfully build democracy and prosperous sociees in their respecve countries.

Despite the Russian aggression against Ukraine in response to the democrac European and Euro- Atlanc choice of the Ukrainian people, despite the aempted illegal annexaon of Crimea and the occupaon of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, despite ongoing armed aggression and war crimes by Russia, as well as aacks on our strategic infrastructure, and despite the daily killings of Ukrainian cizens, Ukraine does not betray its choice.

We are grateful to the European Union, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other democracies for supporng Ukraine in countering Russian Federaon’s threats to our statehood, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.

At the same me, we note with deep disappointment the ongoing preparaons for the launch of Nord Stream 2, which is another aempt by the Russian Federaon to use energy as a tool of hybrid warfare against the West. It poses a direct threat to energy security in Ukraine and Europe, and compromises diversificaon of energy supply to European consumers.

Nord Stream 2 is a purely geopolical project aimed at making Europe dependent on the Russian gas monopoly. Moscow is implemenng this project with a view to exacerbang and strengthening discordances within the democrac and European communies. The Nord Stream-2 project is also a tool for projecng the military force of the Russian Federaon against NATO countries in Russia's priority Balc Sea.

From its very beginning, Nord Stream-2 was not an economic project, as the capacity of the Ukrainian gas transmission system makes it possible to increase gas transportaon to Europe by 2-3 mes. At the same me, Nord Stream 2 creates real obstacles to the diversificaon of energy sources and routes to Europe. Needless to say, Russia's strategic infrastructure projects pose significant corrupon threats to European democracies.

Nord Stream 2 violates European Union antrust laws and increases opportunies for Gazprom to abuse its dominant posion in the European market.

The project creates condions for Russia's escalaon of military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the connuaon of a hybrid war against the EU and NATO. The commissioning of the pipeline will remove Ukraine's important lever to contain Russia, making it vulnerable to the Kremlin's an- democrac and an-reformist vision of Ukraine. This Russian pipeline threatens the naonal security not only of Ukraine, but also of the whole Europe.

We hear assurances from our partners that Ukraine will receive some compensaon in exchange for agreeing to the launch of Nord Stream 2, as well as our partners' willingness to take tough acon if Russia increases its aggression against Ukraine. However, history has repeatedly proved otherwise. Thus, the 1994 Memorandum on security assurances in connecon with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferaon of Nuclear Weapons (Budapest Memorandum), which was in parcular signed by the United States, Great Britain and France, and under which Ukraine voluntarily renounced nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, did not stop the Kremlin from invasion.

We declare with disappointment and concern that the failure to resolve the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO and the EU, the lack of effecve security guarantees, the de facto embargo by some EU and NATO member states on defense arms supplies to Ukraine, pacificaon, and concessions to Russia on implementaon of geopolical projects, in fact deny the right of Ukraine to self-defense.

In this context, we recall and share the posion of the European Parliament, repeatedly expressed in its resoluons, on the need to reduce the EU's energy dependence on Russia and call on the EU instuons and member states to immediately stop construcon of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.

Therefore, we call on the United States, the European Union and, in parcular, Germany to stop the construcon and further commissioning of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. The democrac world must demonstrate to the Russian aggressor the unity and the strength in defending its fundamental values. Ukraine demonstrates this every day by defending the Eastern flank of Europe.