In support of Ukraine

Senator VAN (Victoria) (13:32): I rise as the chair of the parliamentary friends of Ukraine, and I acknowledge you, Madam Acting Deputy President Bilyk, as the deputy chair. Russia's actions in Ukraine are illegal and criminal, and must be stopped. The sanctions are working, and I'm proud of the sanctions that this government has put on Russian oligarchs and leadership. As was announced by the generals on the weekend, they're losing the war. I pay homage to—and I'm so proud of—the heroes of Ukraine who are standing up for their country. They're fighting for their country and are pushing back the Russians.

But we all need to do more. There are 6.3 million displaced Ukrainians. The world needs to reflect back on its commitment to the Responsibility to Protect. These are war crimes; these are the sorts of crimes which the international community adopted to stand up against when it took on R2P. We need to stand up to those who threaten the rules based order because we see other autocratic countries, both in our region and in other parts of the world, watching what the world does with Putin in Russia. We cannot stand by and let this madman take over Ukraine or any part of it. If a settlement needs to be done, if there is a negotiated settlement, it should be done on terms that are agreeable to the Ukrainians and not just to the rest of the world.

I stand with Ukraine and I call on this parliament to stand with Ukraine: slava Ukraini!

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator Bilyk): Thank you, Senator Van, and thank you for your comments associating me with you.