Berlin – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a keynote address at Session I of the G7 Speakers’ Summit on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.  Below are the Speaker’s remarks:   Speaker Pelosi.  Thank you very much, Madam President.  And thank you for your leadership in bringing us all together with an opening statement that defines the challenges ahead, some solutions, insight and the values that are the foundation of it all.     Forty-seven years ago, after the first meeting of our partnership to G7, U.S. President Gerald Ford, a Republican president, said – he heralded what he saw as our greatest strength.  ‘We have found a new spirit,’ he declared to the first group of nations’ summit in France.  ‘A spirit of cooperation and confidence, stemming from a deeper understanding of our common destiny and our joint conviction that free peoples can master their future.’   For nearly half a century, our nations have formed an unbreakable unity, inspired by that ‘spirit of cooperation and confidence’ — and rooted in our shared values of security, liberty, dignity and democracy.  And we have offered strong, principled leadership to confront a changing world.    Today, we in — that leadership, that leadership is needed once more, as we face an escalating battle between Democracy and autocracy, which poses a direct threat to our security, our economies, our values and our people.  And the frontlines of this battle are in Ukraine.   Mr. Speaker Stefanchuk, thank you so much for the challenge that you have presented, the courage of the people of Ukraine.  You are fighting for Democracy there — but it is a fight for Democracy worldwide.  A small price for us to pay to support you on the battle lines in this fight.  And thank you – as you were speaking, I was reminded of when President Zelenskyy came to Munich for the Munich Security Conference and challenged the established security structure, challenged it for not being up to the task.    But thank you for your challenge for us to think in an entrepreneurial way.  When we look at our security structure in an entrepreneurial way, we think of our communications challenges as well.  I use that word again and again, but it's all a challenge.    Just weeks after the invasion, we, the G7 Speakers, convened virtually to condemn Russia's heinous war of aggression, and express our full support for the Ukrainian people.  More than six months later, Putin’s brutality has only accelerated.  It required our response.  Excuse me – it required our response to continue being strong, swift and coordinated.   Thank you, President Bärbel Bas, for welcoming us to Berlin to continue this vital conversation and putting our commitments to Ukraine and to Democracy at the top of the agenda for this important summit.     Again, let us salute our guest of honor, Ukrainian Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.  All of us are grateful for your powerful message today and your invaluable partnership on the ground.  I told the Speaker as we were coming in that, on the way here, I saw some sign on the street that said, ‘Brave enough to be Ukraine.’  Let us hope that everyone is brave enough to be Ukraine.   Personally, Mr. Speaker, I greatly value the strong bond that we are all building, personally, and grateful for the ongoing dialogue so that we are informed as America supports your fight to confront the horrors perpetrated by Putin.    As we gather today, Putin’s war of aggression rages on.  As we just heard, the realities of this war are heartbreaking.  Unconscionable cruelty by the Russian forces, including in Bucha.  We will hear more from Hanna later in our personal conversations.  Personal story, personal story, multiplied over and over.   A global hunger crisis exacerbated by Russian blockades, some of that alleviated, but using hunger as a weapon of war.  And lies, the disinformation to say what is causing the lack of food to get to people earlier on.  It's a hunger – it's a strategic issue.  It is an economic issue for Ukraine.  It's a humanitarian issue for the people who we want to feed.  It’s brutality.     An ongoing crisis at the nuclear power plant, threatening unspeakable catastrophe, and so scary that it would even be considered, should be considered a crime against humanity.   And then the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, with millions of European – Ukrainian refugees forced to leave their homes, over seven million outside the country, millions more displaced, and then many stuck in the path of the war.   And reports of Ukrainian children – this – when I visited, this was the most – and many parliamentarians coming to Washington tell the story.  Many grassroots activists, many women, but the Ukrainian children kidnapped and smuggled into Russia, as detailed by United Nations report last week, but we’ve been seeing that along the way.   An attempt by Putin to demoralize the Ukrainian people so they may give up on the war.  Well, that certainly did not happen.  But he certainly must pay a price for it.  And I'm glad to hear of the documentation that Ukraine is taking of those atrocities.    In the face of such appalling, I say the word again, atrocities, the G7 and our partners are proud to stand in solidarity with Ukraine.  This is a commitment I was proud to convey to President Zelenskyy and you when our delegation visited Kyiv in the spring, and now it is with pride that I am here today to report how America has made good on those commitments under the leadership of President Biden.     You took pride in telling what's happening from Germany's standpoint, if I may say: we’re a bipartisan and bicameral – both House and Senate basis, the Congress secured over $50 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance.  And as we're working to secure another 11.6, hopefully this week or next, in additional security, and economic – when I say this week, I mean next week and the week after, before the end of September.  And economic assistance in our next Appropriations bill.   With the funding Congress has secured, as Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin just announced, we will soon deliver additional Multi-Launch Rocket Systems and additional heavy weaponry and bolster the long-term defense capacity of Ukraine and its neighbors.  It is important as – of itself — as an example, and also, important in collaboration with our allies.    Thank you, Germany, and all of you who are present here.    Congress has led the charge to cut off Putin’s war chest by banning Russian oil and energy products.  That action has been shared.  And a proposal to suspend Normal Trade Relations with Russia, I take pride [to] say, originated in the House of Representatives, but it has passed the Congress.     When Putin began his conquest, he started – to strive, he was striving to drive us apart.  But as you mentioned, Mr. Speaker, it has the opposite effect.  And one example is that Finland and Sweden have joined NATO.  He accelerated that.  Whether it was going to happen, I don't know.  But because of Ukraine, it has happened in an accelerated way.  But now the alliance, the partnership, the resolve of the G7 nations and our partners is stronger than ever before.  And it is Putin who is isolated to the Western world – from the Western world.    Guided by the ‘spirit of cooperation and confidence’ in which President Ford spoke, our nations are moving in lockstep to offer unwavering – and offering unwavering solidarity to Ukraine and impose severe sanctions on the Russian government and its enablers.  The sanctions are so important — and thank you for emphasizing that, in addition to humanitarian, economic and military assistance, which is so necessary.     Now, as we enter a new phase of the conflict with optimism — congratulations — [we] must hold on to our unshakable unity until victory is achieved and as you said, Madam President, guns fall silent again.   As we talked about what happens next, I'm pleased that in the Congress, we passed ‘seize and freeze.’  Seize the Russian assets, freeze them, and as we thaw them out, use the Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, as you've suggested, Mr. Speaker in your remarks.  This is very important because it's going to take a few hundred billion dollars, for starters, to do that.  And then again, the Russians should be accountable for the damage that they've done.   As we do so, we must not forget, the battle between freedom and tyranny is being waged on a broader battlefield.  Tyranny and autocracy.  The Chinese Communist Party is escalating its attacks on human rights and intensifying its aggression toward Taiwan.  President Xi is meeting with President Putin in Central Asia this week, deepening a disturbing alliance between these two brutal dictators.  Meanwhile, dark, violent anti-democratic forces are on the rise, including many in our own nations.  G7 nations and our democratic allies must stand together against these threats — because as history teaches us, a threat to freedom anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.   Too many prices have – too big of a price is already paid for freedom.  Our men and women in uniform and yours have paid that price over time.  We must be vigilant to protect it off the battlefield, to avoid the battlefield.     Shortly after Putin’s invasion, President Biden declared: ‘The darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty.’  I believe that we must make it be the reality.    So my colleagues, let us stand in the breach against the forces of tyranny.     Let us hold strong in the fight to defend Democracy.   And let us ensure that the flame of liberty is never extinguished.    And let us salute the bravery of the people of Ukraine, for fighting for their Democracy — and in doing so, protecting ours, therefore requiring us as they do battle, for us to assist in every way.  Any support that we give is a small price to pay for Democracy and a small contribution to make compared to people risking their lives for their sovereignty, for their Democracy.   Let us all be brave enough to be Ukraine.    Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  Thank you, Madam President.   [Applause]  

Berlin – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after holding a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at the Federal Chancellery and a bi

Berlin – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk of Ukraine, President Bärbel Bas of the German Bundestag and President Roberta Metsola of the Eur

Berlin – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a keynote address at Session I of the G7 Speakers’ Summit on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.  Below are the Speaker’s remarks:

Berlin – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement following engagements on the opening day of the 2022 G7 Speakers’ Summit: