Dear President Putin…

Dear President Putin, my name is Jacopo and I am 13 years old, I am a boy who, like everyone else, has lived through the pandemic, two years in prison at home, and now the war is about to break out in Europe. Is it really the right thing to do? Everyone who fought to end World War II, everyone who freed Jews from death camps, do you really want to be the architect of a third world war? Right now you are fighting for Ukraine, a territory that does not belong to you. Life is not wasted simply because there is only one life. We all die in this war, for a piece of land, for money, for a population. But don’t you think about the life of the poor and civilians who will be involved? Everything is resolved with pacts not only between you two states (Russia and Ukraine), but involving the world just as a war would involve not only you and Ukraine but everyone. Dark times have descended on Ukraine and Europe. It is remarkable how quickly European leaders have begun to understand who they have been doing a lot of joint business with. There have been and there are multi-billion dollar business contracts and lucrative opportunities for banks, political parties, industries … lucrative and corrupt schemes that were causing rot from within the European institutions themselves and in the values on which the EU is founded, i.e. democracy. , rule of law, respect for human rights, European sovereignty, and security. Right now we are witnessing a crude, bloody, and insidious attempt to redraw the borders of Europe. As European leaders go to summits and clap their elbows, Putin’s army and missiles are already reshaping the European security map. Ukrainians are fighting for the right to exist but also for fundamental European values, the brave Ukrainian soldiers are giving their lives. The time has come for Europe to wake up to this existential threat that the Russian leadership poses and provides unequivocal support – financially, diplomatically, and militarily. All actors must unite – civil society, politicians, European institutions, associations, and trade unions in all sectors in their condemnation of the aggression against Ukraine. In conclusion, I hope Russia stops invading Ukraine with or without pacts. Furthermore, I hope that a war will not break out in case of aid to Ukraine.