I wish you health!
Today I am already back home – in Ukraine. It has been a very fruitful visit to the Middle East and the Gulf region. You can really feel the positive attitude toward Ukraine – toward our warriors and our expertise. There is great respect for Ukraine, and I am grateful to the leaders for that. There is a shared vision among the countries of the region to work together with our state, with our defense, and with our experts. Security and restoring stability are the top priorities for everyone. And every nation deserves to live in peace. There are already agreements in place – landmark agreements: Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. We are also working with Jordan and Kuwait. Rustem Umerov is currently in the region, continuing political-level negotiations – he reported to me today – and there are already additional requests from Bahrain and Oman. For Ukraine, this is not only a matter of prestige and respect for our people; it is a very concrete and practical matter. We are exporting our system of protection, the skills of our warriors, the knowledge that our state possesses. And from these countries – from our partners – we expect reciprocal security engagement. We have already agreed on opportunities to strengthen air defense, on the joint development of defense production, and on energy cooperation, including diesel and other critical supplies that we need right now.
I also held a Staff meeting today – focused primarily on air defense. We thoroughly reviewed the situation regarding contract implementation and the procurement of all necessary items. This is not only about countering ballistic threats – it also concerns frontline air defense, missiles against drones, and interceptors. Everything will be provided. We are working to ensure that Ukraine’s domestic production reaches a level where we have all the necessary components of the air defense system – including anti-ballistic ones. We are working on this with several countries – it is still too early to disclose details. But what matters most is licenses for us, localization, and results here in Ukraine. This is a global goal, and we continue working toward it.
One more thing. There will be a lot of work this week – a lot of international work with our partners. This concerns security guarantees for Ukraine – and we are working on this primarily with the United States. We will also be speaking with Europe – about Ukraine’s potential and the agreements reached in the Middle East and the Gulf, as well as about our shared European defense and production. There will be good results. I thank everyone who is helping us! I thank all our people! It is important to remember that Ukraine has such a defense system not because of any single factor – our strength is not just in interceptors or any other weapons. Our strength lies in the fact that Ukrainians defend their country every single day, test in practice what truly works every single day, and achieve results for themselves and for their country every single day – and therefore can strengthen others as well, those who support Ukraine and help Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine!