Soon after Prince Harry arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine today, he attended the Kyiv Security Forum, where he was the keynote speaker. His speech was seemingly released to the media ahead of time, because lots of journalists seemed to know what he would say. Harry actually spoke Vladimir Putin’s name, but he didn’t mention Donald Trump by name. Harry referenced the failures of American leadership, which are very real and devastating for Ukraine.
Prince Harry, the younger son of Britain’s King Charles, made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Thursday to show his support for the country, which he said is “bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank.”
During an address at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday morning, Harry contrasted European support for Ukraine with the United States.
“The United States has a singular role in this story not only because of its power but because when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected,” he said. “This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America to show that it can honor its international treaty obligations, not out of charity but out of its own enduring role in global security and strategic stability.”
Harry said Europe’s support has been crucial to Ukraine’s defense but that more is needed faster. “Europe has stood up in profound ways. And that support has mattered, and Ukraine knows it,” Harry said. “The task now is to match endurance with speed.”
Harry described the war as an ideological battle between liberal democracies and their authoritarian foes. Pointing to the forcible deportations of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, Harry said that the “distinction could not be clearer” between Ukraine’s respect for international law and human life and Russia’s lack of it. “Under international law, this forcible transfer of children from one national group to another is not just a war crime. It can constitute an act of genocide. When carried out with intent to destroy a people’s identity,” he said.
Harry issued a message directly to two presidents – Trump and Putin – about the war in Ukraine. He was speaking in Kyiv at the start of an unannounced visit in which he is meeting senior members of the Ukrainian military and some of the thousands of soldiers who have been seriously wounded in the conflict. He also defended his visit to Ukraine, saying he was “not here as a politician”.
Prince Harry told the Russian president that there is “still a moment, now, to stop this war… Years into this war, with immense losses and limited gains, it is increasingly clear that this path offers no victor – only more loss. President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing.”
[From CBS News & ITV’s YouTube transcript]
Every so often, I even find myself astounded by Harry’s bravery and courage. To have all of this heat on him 24-7, the international media breathing down his neck and screaming at him and about him every single day, and he still shows up and speaks with authority and meaning about war. To issue a direct statement to Putin, and to question the lack of American leadership… he knows that people are going to be furious. He still did it anyway, because someone had to say it and because Harry has always known that he, like his mother, could draw international attention to these kinds of situations.
Screencaps courtesy of YouTube.
