The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament addressed the 3rd Parliamentary Summit of International Crimea Platform.

“For over 2 years and half, we have been witnessing a devastating war, which nobody had thought would ever happen again in Europe. Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine shocked many.

We, Georgians, have stood by our Ukrainian friends since the first day of the war and we will continue doing so, because nobody knows the pain of war and the value of peace better than we do. The dreadful conflict in Ukraine served as an awakening call for many countries when the war hit the homeland, reminding them that peace is precious and indivisible, and it is also very fragile.

We are in the middle of an arch of fire, instability, and conflict. Europe, which used to be the heaven of peace and stability for decades, is now the hotspot of a large armed conflict. We had warned our partners that the international system, which had failed to prevent the war in Georgia and now in Ukraine, did not provide for just and sustainable peace. The awakening, which followed the war, made many of our partners re-think and re-appraise the ways to avoid such tremendous tragedies in future.

We knew firsthand what frozen conflicts mean, brought about by the temporary truce. Truce does not ensure sustainable peace. Therefore, mere freezing of the conflict cannot bring about credible guarantees for peace.

It is good we look now to future solutions, and these solutions should be based on just and sustainable peace. And these solutions should also be sustained by a relevant international system that makes such peace possible and lasting.

We, depending on our relative size and capacity, have to take our share of responsibility, and work cooperatively for a better peace, in support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, so that to ensure just and fair solution to the raging war. I wish our Ukrainian brothers and sisters a just peace, and thorough and quick restoration of everything that has been destroyed by the war”, - says Shalva Papuashvili.