By saving people we can save our country – Olena Zelenska

People are Ukraine's key value and saving every person means saving the whole country, First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has said.

“Our people are our strength. We must protect our people no matter what. This is not a war about territory. It is about our people,” Olena Zelenska has said at the 17th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting "Ukraine: Defending All Our Freedom", organised by YES in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

We need to provide mental and physical support after the war. Only then will Ukraine be restored, Zelenska said.

“We need our children to be proud of our country and what we have achieved. We must support our people. If we provide jobs, individuals can support themselves and their families, then our economy will get stronger. We must rebuild and create infrastructure so that people can work again. We need to rehabilitate people and regain faith in humanity.” Zelenska said.

Zelenska also said that now the war of worldviews takes place in Ukraine, the war of humanity against aggression.

“Our mistake was to think that in the 20th Century the experiments of hate had gone away, but when you see what happened in Bucha it is clear that the darkness has not gone away. After Bucha you can not live the same life as before, like it was after Auschwitz. They say this is the war of nations but I am certain this is a war of differing worldviews. I believe these are the values that shall overcome. So it is humanity versus aggression. The world still has a chance to decide,” Zelenska said.