I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!
Today, we are with our communities. The meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities took place with the participation of our government officials and members of parliament. Here in Zakarpattia, there was also a meeting with our Ukrainian Hungarian community. It is important that there is attention and respect for all communities in Ukraine. First of all, I thanked every community that was active and effective this winter. We got through this winter thanks to all our people who work for our state, for their communities, thanks to the professionals in energy companies and municipal services. I want to thank you all. Business also performed well – supplies, logistics. This is truly our shared national success that Russia’s plans for the winter were thwarted. We have already begun preparing for the next winter. We must not lose time. Although it is difficult to meet all the needs due to the blocking of European funds for Ukraine – funds that were supposed to go toward recovery, new protection measures for the winter, and developing alternative grid infrastructure and generation. Right now, we are relying on internal resources, but we are working with partners to unblock this key support package. It is important that our communities are also active and speak to partners at their level – to their partner communities – about why blocking support for us, for Ukraine, is effectively playing into Russia’s hands.
Today, I recognized our Hungarian community – for supporting our defense, and for the fact that all our communities, and the Hungarian community in particular, are helping IDPs and relocated businesses. Because of the war, there is effectively a redistribution of economic activity across the country – the western regions of our state are growing economically. Zakarpattia is seeing very tangible growth. And this is not only about businesses as such – it is also about communities, about the social environment within them, about the relationships between our people. It’s important to have this kind of support everywhere in Ukraine – support from people for people – and we see it here, so I want to thank you for that. And of course, I want to recognize all the leaders of our communities, all our people who support frontline communities and areas along the border with Russia. Communities are now standing shoulder to shoulder in many aspects. Thank you for this systematic support.
And one more thing.
We all see how difficult it is to stabilize the situation in the Middle East. Yes, that’s true. There will be a lot of political and diplomatic activity around Iran. As for military action – we hope there will be less of it. This matters to everyone in the world, given the destabilization of markets. Oil prices are now declining, and it is important not to disrupt this. The world wants stability, and people want security. There was a report from the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council – he continues to work with countries neighboring Iran, and there will be more of our Ukrainian security arrangements: new draft agreements have already been prepared. I have scheduled a meeting for Monday to discuss the second wave of these arrangements. Ukraine is making its contribution to security, and in return our partners will contribute to strengthening Ukraine. Thank you.
Glory to Ukraine!