Dear Ukrainians!
There will be good decisions in support of Ukraine this week. We are preparing them right now. I continue to stay in touch with all our partners who can help us and who are always effective. Today, I’ll speak with Denmark, and I’ll speak with Lithuania – with the prime ministers. Tomorrow, we have important negotiations in the United Kingdom. This week, we’ll also be holding talks with the European Union. There will be support packages for Ukraine, and we are also making progress in the negotiations on our accession to the European Union. Two negotiating clusters are to be opened this week. Two were already opened over the summer, and we are set to open all six by the end of the year. That is our plan, and it is our priority. This is political and moral support for our people. It is proof that Ukraine’s course toward becoming a normal, strong European country is irreversible. We are also working to secure full financial support for Ukraine and Ukrainians, as well as ensure that our agreements with Europe are fulfilled. Today, I want to thank our parliamentarians and government officials: this week, we have the necessary decisions – the laws and the government decisions we needed. Thank you. We are also working on air defense. Yesterday, unfortunately, Kyiv was hit by ballistic missiles, and we received no warning from our partners about this attack. Usually, we do receive such warnings, and they are extremely important – they help us defend ourselves. There were five ballistic missiles, and, in fact, our Armed Forces detected them only seconds before impact. And that is precisely why we tell our partners that their cooperation with Ukraine provides greater protection for life, allows us to save more people, and helps stop Russian killings. Our military and intelligence services must cooperate fully, and on our side, we have everything necessary in place. We expect the same level of cooperation from our partners. We are also in constant communication with the American side. Our teams are talking. And we need to work toward peace. We need to find the right ways to act. Ukraine is ready for meetings. Ukraine supported the American President’s proposal for an energy ceasefire. Russia must also be part of this agreement. Our team has sent the American side the relevant proposals for possible next meetings and further talks. We are ready to meet in the coming days, and I sent this proposal to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through my team. On the Ukrainian side, there is always a constructive approach, and our positions are always absolutely clear and focused on protecting the independence of the Ukrainian people.
There was also a great deal of work today concerning Kyiv – the situation here in the capital, preparations for winter, and the protection of critical infrastructure. Every Kyiv resident can see that the city is genuinely unprepared. Now, already in October, the situation is, unfortunately, sometimes worse than during previous winters of this war, when a single “shahed” strike knocks out power and water. There are many other issues as well, unfortunately: regarding shelters, school preparation, and the construction of protective structures, public transportation, and getting residential buildings in Kyiv ready for winter. Kyiv is lagging behind our other regions in implementing resilience plans. Decisions are needed. Things need to move faster. Today, I discussed this with representatives of communities that have accomplished more, and some of them have done significantly more under much more difficult conditions. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov was here to meet with me. I also spoke with Ivan Fedorov, who has done a great deal for Zaporizhzhia over the years of this war. I also spoke today with Vasyl Maliuk about security challenges. And I met with representatives of businesses that are delivering results – Maksym Yefimov and Kostiantyn Yefymenko. I am grateful to everyone for their proposals and willingness to cooperate. There will be more important meetings.
And one more thing.
I want to thank every first responder, every police officer, every man and woman who helps our people after Russian strikes. In Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, the Donetsk region, in every region of our country, in all our cities and communities, in the Odesa region, in Mykolaiv, in Rivne – absolutely everywhere in Ukraine, after Russian strikes, there are people who save lives and make sure that Ukraine recovers and that Ukraine remains resilient. I thank all of you, and I thank everyone who works for our country, who works for our people. This is what matters most.
Glory to Ukraine!