Climate change alarmism personality Greta Thunberg held an in-person meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, alongside several former European officials, in Kyiv on Thursday to address “the consequences of war for the environment,” according to Zelensky’s office.
Zelensky published a video to his social media profiles of his leading a meeting alongside the 20-year-old Swedish environmentalist and other representatives of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War. The group also included “Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, [and] President of Ireland in 1990-1997 Mary Robinson,” according to the Ukrainian state outlet Ukrinform.
Zelensky met with Thunberg on the same day that he received a surprise visit from former American Vice President Mike Pence.
Ukraine has faced nearly a decade of occupation by Russia as a result of Moscow’s colonization of Crimea, and over a year of full-scale invasion following Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “special operation” to oust Zelensky in February 2022. The Ukrainians have accused Russian forces of deliberately threatening the country’s environment on several occasions, including fighting around the Zaporzhizhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Most recently, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in occupied Kherson in early June has caused international alarm, as the overflowing Dnipro River water destroyed neighboring communities and left swathes of Ukraine without water to drink or farm, as well as vulnerable to disease. Ukraine blamed Russia, which “annexed” Kherson in September, for the destruction of the dam.
“It’s really an important signal of support for Ukraine, it’s very important, and, really, we need your help, your professional help,” Zelensky told the Thunberg group in a video posted to his social media profiles, lamenting destroyed cities “having a critical problem with drinking water.”
Zelensky also noted that the lack of water is affecting Ukrainian agriculture.
“We have to give this wheat and corn to give to Africa and Asian countries – really give sometimes, because we don’t sell, some countries don’t have possibility [sic],” he noted.
Протидія екоциду та всім іншим руйнівним наслідкам російської агресії є одним із пунктів Української формули миру.Сьогодні зустрівся з учасниками та учасницями Міжнародної робочої групи щодо екологічних злочинів Росії. Обговорили передусім катастрофічні наслідки російського теракту на Каховській ГЕС. Цей теракт призвів до найбільшого за десятки років екоциду в Європі.Екоактивістка Грета Тунберг, екс-віце-прем’єр-міністр і екс-міністр закордонних справ Швеції Маргот Вальстрем, віце-президент Європейського парламенту Гайді Гаутала, Президент Ірландії в 1990–1997 роках Мері Робінсон. Вдячний за підтримку наших зусиль і за чітку позицію: агресор повинен відповідати за все скоєне проти людей і проти природи, проти життя загалом. Усі знищені життя та зламані долі, уся шкода природі, містам і селам, кожна втрата через цей екоцид – це пряма відповідальність російської держави.____Counteracting ecocide and all other destructive consequences of Russian aggression is one of the points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.Today I met with members of the International Working Group on Russia's environmental crimes. We discussed, first of all, the catastrophic consequences of the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. This attack led to the largest ecocide in Europe in decades.Environmental activist Greta Greta Thunberg, former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, and President of Ireland in 1990-1997 Mary Robinson. I am grateful for their support of our efforts and for their clear position – the aggressor must be held accountable for everything committed against people and against nature, against life in general. All the destroyed lives and broken destinies, all the damage to nature, cities and villages, every loss due to this ecocide is the direct responsibility of the Russian state.
Posted by Володимир Зеленський on Thursday, June 29, 2023
Ukraine is one of the world’s most prolific wheat exporters and has donated wheat to embattled countries recently, most prominently Ethiopia in 2022.
Thunberg used her visit to Kyiv to condemn Russia’s “ecocide” against Ukraine.
“Ecocide and environmental destruction is a form of warfare… as Ukrainians by this point know all too well — and so does Russia,” Thunberg said at a press conference following her meeting with Zelensky. “And that’s why they are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes and therefore also destroying lives.”
Thunberg lamented that the world did not offer a “sufficient” response to the environmental destruction in Ukraine, but conceded, “I don’t think any reaction could be sufficient.”
“We must do everything we can to speak out about this and to try to spread awareness and share information about what is happening,” she urged.
Thunberg has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the past, most prominently after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
“This ecocide as a continuation of Russias [sic] unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine is yet another atrocity which leaves the world lost for words,” she wrote on Twitter on June 8, calling for Russia to “be held accountable”:
This ecocide as a continuation of Russias unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine is yet another atrocity which leaves the world lost for words. Our eyes are once again on Russia who must be held accountable for their crimes. https://t.co/GDWrJnMkmb
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) June 8, 2023
In addition to Thunberg’s delegation, Zelensky held a meeting on Thursday with former American vice president and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence. Pence has enthusiastically called for extended American support for Ukraine against Russia:
Mike Pence is in Ukraine visiting Zelensky. pic.twitter.com/OGWWYE3hTj
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 29, 2023
“I believe America’s the leader of the free world,” Pence told NBC News on Thursday, adding:
But coming here just as a private citizen — being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion — just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.
Zelensky summarized his day with an extraordinary guest list in a video posted to social media on Thursday.
“The meeting with Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President of the United States, Senator [sic – Pence served in the House of Representatives] … American support for Ukraine is vital – from all Americans, every American family, all U.S. civil society, all political leaders, Congress,” Zelensky said, “both parties, of course, from President Biden. Thank you for this support!”
“The meeting with the members of the International Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War – Greta Thunberg, Margot Wallström and others,” he continued. “We talked primarily about the Russian terrorist attack and ecocide at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the work of our group, which will deal with issues directly related to the destructive impact of Russian aggression on nature.”
“Combating ecocide is one of the points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, and we must implement each of its points, all aspects of peace,” Zelensky asserted.
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