President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a videoconference with representatives of all Ukrainian diplomatic missions.
The Head of State thanked the diplomats for their efforts and for representing Ukraine’s interests with dignity around the world; he also outlined the main priorities of their work in the near future and for the coming year.
The President noted that last night, Russia carried out another massive missile and drone strike against our country. That is why it is crucial to continue working on strengthening air defense – Ukraine needs both air defense systems and missiles for them.
“This is a signal to all embassies – you need to act. Many NATO countries have Patriots in their arsenals; most NATO countries have them. Regarding, for example, NASAMS, I want to thank both the United States and our friends from Norway. I also thank the German direction – we received additional Patriot systems; well done to the entire embassy team. This was very important,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The discussion also focused on expanding the PURL initiative, which enables Ukraine to acquire weapons for its defense. The President instructed ambassadors and consuls general to intensify efforts to involve countries that have not yet joined the program and to increase contributions. Additionally, the Head of State emphasized the need to develop the SAFE instrument, which is vital for the security of Ukraine and all of Europe. It is important that each country participating in SAFE has funding provisioned for co-production with Ukraine.
The online meeting also addressed the next steps in diplomatic work on UN resolutions supporting Ukraine. The discussion included the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and the protection of human rights in temporarily occupied territories.
“The resolution I want to highlight concerns Ukrainian children who were abducted by the Russian Federation during this war. It is very important for us that this resolution receives broad support from countries around the world,” the President stressed.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha noted that the diplomatic team is making, and will continue to make, all necessary efforts to advance a just peace and to achieve the priority objectives set by the President.