Fellow Ukrainians!
Today, I held a meeting of the Staff, which was also attended by representatives of frontline regions – Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipro, Sumy, and our Donetsk region. The Mayor of Kyiv also participated, along with key government officials and the military command. There are many, a great many issues that need to be resolved for the regions, cities, and communities facing the greatest difficulties because of all these Russian strikes. We discussed in detail the challenges posed by Russia’s operation against our bridges and power grid – Russia is trying to divide Ukraine along the Dnipro River and make life as difficult as possible for people – for our cities and villages. We update our countermeasures every week, and it is important that all levels of government – central and local – be effective in protecting people. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is ready to address issues that have not been resolved locally, and we can provide additional state resources wherever needed. This is how we have made it through all the years of this war – filling gaps, finding and supplying what is needed – weapons, first of all, equipment, and essential resources, including energy resources. The central government always helps, and it is necessary that everything we agreed upon and everything set out in all the resilience plans be implemented at the community and regional levels.
I spoke with Ursula von der Leyen recently, and I am very grateful to Ursula for her support and understanding. There will be additional support and assistance from the European Union – Ukraine’s Prime Minister is working with the European Commission representatives to determine the parameters of this assistance. We need to strengthen, in particular, our logistics – the transportation links that Russia is trying to block – our energy sector, and our people’s ability to get through this winter. We are holding bilateral talks with our partner countries – there will be more such meetings this week. There will be defense packages – we are preparing them right now. And we need political progress for Ukraine in its relations with the European Union. We must open all the clusters in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU by the end of the year – this is absolutely realistic, this is the goal – and then take the next steps. I want to thank all our partners in the European Union who support us.
I spoke with the Prime Minister of India and briefed him on preparations for the trilateral format – Ukraine, America, and Russia. Our negotiating team is already in the United Arab Emirates. The first meeting is tomorrow. Our European partners will also be there, and we will have separate formats with them. All of them must serve one purpose: bringing real peace closer. We deeply value the support of every country. India put forward proposals on food security that, unfortunately, were not supported by the Russian side. And now, at the meetings in Abu Dhabi, our team will propose de-escalatory steps, and there must be an understanding of how to arrange a trilateral meeting at the leaders’ level to bring this war to an end fairly and for real. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. Real resources for Ukraine’s postwar recovery are needed.
A few more points.
At the Staff meeting, there was a report from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi on our positions at the front. Right now, Ukrainian troops are truly strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating positions – every mission completed in full, every defensive operation that adds to Ukraine’s strength and brings results strengthens Ukraine, strengthens us, first of all, in the negotiations. These days, our defenders are achieving record results in eliminating Russian occupiers – Russia is suffering record manpower losses on the front, both daily and weekly. Ukraine’s long-range sanctions are working too. We are responding to Russia’s war in an entirely just manner and proving that it must be brought to an end. Russia can do this – end its war. It is important that America convince Russia of precisely that.
And this is a plenary week in Ukraine. On the agenda are important bills that matter for Ukraine’s European integration, for financing our country, and for fighting corruption. There is also my bill that will advance Ukraine’s accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – a group of countries that are among the strongest economically and socially. Ukraine needs to be a partner of precisely such countries and uphold precisely such principles. I ask members of parliament to deliver results – and support the bills scheduled for this week.
Glory to Ukraine!