Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that past world wars began with local aggression and that Russia “is interested in starting a war in the Middle East so that a new source of pain and suffering can undermine world unity, increase discord and contradictions and thus help Russia to destroy freedoms in Europe,” reports News.ro.

In a message sent Monday evening, Zelensky said he had a meeting with intelligence chiefs and diplomats regarding the situation in Israel and the region, as well as the Middle East.

“For us, this is fundamentally important – not only for Ukraine, but also for the whole of Europe. According to the available information – some of it quite clear – Russia is interested in starting a war in the Middle East so that a new source of pain and suffering can undermine world unity, increase discord and contradictions and thus help Russia destroy freedom in Europe.

We can see how happy the Russian propagandists are. We see how Moscow’s Iranian friends publicly support those who attacked Israel. And all this poses a greater threat than the world now realizes. World wars in the past began with local aggression. We know how to counter this threat. We are preparing the appropriate steps. And, most importantly, we defend the need for maximum unity in the world,” he emphasized.

The President of Ukraine added that he spoke at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, primarily on the topic of unity.

“Each state of the world must now choose how to protect international law. To protect him! Not standing by when terror tries to take over and when another region of the world may collapse before our eyes. I am grateful to all leaders and states that are now fully aware of the danger and are ready to jointly keep the situation under control, to prevent further interference by the obvious sponsors of terror,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He noted that he had talks with representatives of the Ukrainian parliament and ministers.

“I replaced the commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Anatoly Bargilevich was appointed commander instead of Ihor Tantyura. The key task is to ensure that the development of the Territorial Defense Forces does not stop,” Zelensky explained.