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The Taoiseach has welcomed the announcement that talks are to be held between Ukraine and Russia. News of the proposed dialogue had been announced earlier on Sunday after a dispute over the any meeting might take place had been resolved.
“We would welcome such talks because in our view the war, the violence is unjustifiable. We know hospitals are being attacked, schools are being attacked, nurseries and civilians are being killed. It is unacceptable. It is immoral what is going on and it needs to be brought to an end,” said Micheál Martin in Cork on Sunday.
The said the economic impact of the invasion in Europe and across the globe will be significant in terms of energy prices and that the Government would consider how best to deal with the consequences. “The world has changed by virtue of this unjustified war.”
He insisted, however, that the collective response between the European Union, the United States, Canada and others has been “ very telling” and would help to ensure that the various sanctions to be imposed will have the desired impact.
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“It does give us the capacity to undermine the industrial base of Russia and its capacity ultimately to wage war. Not in the immediate sense. But certainly will give Russia and many people within Russian leadership in the commercial world pause for thought in terms of their capacity economically and financially to operate with such unprecedented sanctions.”
Mr Martin stressed that a decision by President Putin to put Russia’s nuclear defence forces on high alert was “absolutely irresponsible and reckless”.
He expressed his admiration for the “courage” of the Ukrainian people in seeking to defend their homeland.
“It is quite extraordinary in terms of standing up for its country and their people. But it is at huge cost. This is a further threat but the response has to be firm from the west in terms of the sanctions we have employed. Fundamentally this is about upholding universal principles of self determination, democracy, freedom of speech free media. That is what this is about.”
The Taoiseach added that Ireland plans to do everything in its power to help persons impacted by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Ukraine.
“We will see what we can do logistically in terms of supplying medical supplies, in terms of providing additional supports with other countries within the European Union in terms of dealing with victims with injuries and so on. Whether our personnel can be deployed on the ground. We will do everything we possibly can to help Ukrainian citizens who have been injured. I think it is shocking what we are witnessing on our television screens.
He said that “nothing is ruled out” in terms of the possible expulsion of the Russian Ambassador or other diplomats from Ireland.
However Mr Martin said it would be preferable if such a measure is to be taken that it would involve a collective decision of EU member States rather than individual decisions by countries.
He stated in respect of the diplomatic situation regarding embassies “unity is strength” and we have to consider the impact of our actions on such matters.
“We should work on a co-ordinated basis with our fellow colleagues across Europe. It is very hard to predict how this crisis is going to unfold.”