On February 19, 2019, a special session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was held marking the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The meeting was attended by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and President of the European Council Donald Tusk.

President of Ukraine P.Poroshenko emphasized in his speech, that the killing of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes was the beginning of a bloody war that Russia had set against Ukraine for the restoration of the empire, the revision of the borders and the destruction of the entire transatlantic security system. Today Moscow is waging the hybrid war not only against Ukraine but also against the European Union, including Poland, against the United States, NATO, the Baltic States, and the entire democratic world.

I see my strategic mission in ensuring the irreversibility of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Our common goal is to apply for membership in the European Union and receive a NATO Membership Action Plan no later than 2023 – said the Head of State.

In the address delivered in the Ukrainian language, the President of the European Council D.Tusk said: “There can be no just Europe without an independent Ukraine. There can be no safe Europe without a safe Ukraine. To put it simply: there can be no Europe without Ukraine!”

“Do not teach Ukrainians how to be a Europe. Learn from them what Europe is. Only the one who is in solidarity with Ukraine has the right to call oneself a European. Using these words, I addressed the EU leaders” - said D.Tusk.