TORONTO –
Students must put pressure on their political representatives to provide more support to Ukraine to help fight Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, speaking virtually in front of a personal audience at the University of Toronto.
Zelensky said Ukraine needs more weapons, financial support, humanitarian aid and continued sanctions against Russia.
“It is very important that you, students from many other countries, convey this message to your respective countries in order to put pressure on your political leadership to give Ukraine what it needs,” he said.
“With your actions, please do not allow anyone somewhere in the hierarchy of bureaucratic corridors to forget what is happening in Ukraine, to forget about the war. Please don’t get tired of the war. “
He said students could go to rallies and use social media accounts and communicate with friends to remind people of what has been happening in Ukraine for nearly four months.
Speaking via video link, Zelenski was greeted with applause by about 250 people who attended the event at Munk School at the University of Toronto.
Students from 10 other universities in Canada, including the University of Montreal, the University of Alberta, Western University and Dalhousie University, took part virtually.
He later answered questions from students on a variety of topics, including the role of the Internet and social media in the war, how international organizations could be improved to prevent similar conflicts and Ukraine’s future.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Christia Freeland said Canada had provided $ 1.87 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine, of which $ 1.5 billion had already been delivered to the country.
“This is more than any other country has managed to send to the bank account of the Ukrainian government,” she said.
Freeland said democracies, including Canada, could not allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to succeed in the war, which aims to win democracy in Ukraine.
“I want to tell President Zelensky – and I want to tell Vladimir Putin, who I think is probably listening to us as well – that while it is needed, Canada will be there for Ukraine,” she said.
“We will persevere. We will not get tired. “
University of Toronto President Merrick Gertler said the institution has a “special connection” with the Ukrainian president, who visited the campus in 2019 for an international summit on his country’s future.
Last month, the university announced a program to welcome more than 200 students whose studies were interrupted by the war.
Kateryna Nehomyazh, a Ukrainian exchange student who was among a group of 20 people who arrived in May to study at the University of Toronto, said her family is relatively safe now in the Ukrainian capital.
“I do not know when I will talk to them for the last time. There are no troops in Kyiv, but there are bombs, “she said in an interview.
She said people in eastern and southern Ukraine, including some of her friends’ families, were struggling to survive.
“They are having a really hard time. “The world needs to know about this and not forget,” she said.
“Every time I read the news, I watch videos, for what is happening, I’m grateful to God, to the university, that I’m safe, but I really want everyone to be safe.”
Luis Sanchez, a student of international relations at the University of Toronto, said he was excited and inspired to watch the Ukrainian president speak.
“Many people may feel tired from the war. “A few months ago, this may have been more noticeable in the news,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 22, 2022.
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