I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
It has been a long day today. I met with General Kellogg – he has begun his visit to Ukraine, and it has been quite substantive. We had a productive discussion. I am grateful to President Trump for his readiness to help protect our people’s lives. This war continues solely because of Russia, solely because of Putin’s desire to prolong it, to drag it out. Russia is trying to make the war seem like the “new normal.” We must never put up with this. Absolutely everything possible – humanly possible – must be done to force Russia to stop the killings, to achieve real peace, and to ensure security. Peace is only possible through strength. We discussed this with President Trump. We discussed this with members of Congress. We are working at our teams’ level – teams of Ukraine and the United States – to secure the forces and means we need to protect lives and defend our state: American weapons, American sanctions against Russia – a sanctions bill has already been prepared in Congress – as well as European financing and support, our joint defense.
Ukrainian military officials, our intelligence and special services will provide General Kellogg with all the necessary information about what is happening right now on the frontline and about the new offensive actions Russia is preparing. Russia still has the money – the money to destroy the lives of its neighbors. And not only Ukraine. But the world knows where to hit so that Putin feels the pain and Russia feels the need to seek peace. Russia’s war financing must be cut off. Russia’s ties with Iran and North Korea must be cut off. Any supply of components and equipment for Russia’s military industry must be cut off.
I am grateful to our team, I am grateful to the United States, and I am grateful to Germany and Norway for preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine. We are also working on major defense agreements with America. It is not yet time to reveal the details publicly, but together, we can achieve a great deal for the sake of security. Ukraine is absolutely ready for all honest and effective steps toward peace – lasting peace – and real security. It is Russia that is not ready. It is Russia that must be forced. And this is what is happening.
We will definitely continue to increase our domestic weapons production and develop all our defense projects – both our Ukrainian and joint projects with partners. And this is one of the top priorities for the renewed Government. We must increase the share of domestic weapons production – this is a clear and specific goal. We must engage in global tech competition through our own innovations. We must direct more of Ukraine’s economic strength to supplying our Defense Forces. It is important to carry out deregulation and give society more opportunities to develop our internal potential. It is also essential to eliminate all excessive bureaucracy and duplication of functions in our state institutions – this will definitely allow us to reduce all unnecessary spending. At the same time, we must provide greater social stability for our people – for all Ukrainians. All resilience programs in Ukraine must operate at full capacity.
Today, I spoke with Yuliia Svyrydenko – I have proposed that she head the Government of Ukraine and renew its work based on her extensive experience in supporting Ukrainian production and Ukrainian entrepreneurship, which Yuliia has as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. The tremendous experience of Denys Shmyhal will undoubtedly be valuable in the role of Minister of Defense – this is exactly the area where the country’s greatest resources, the heaviest workload, and the highest responsibility lie right now. I am counting on sufficient support from the Members of Parliament for the new configuration of the Government of Ukraine. It is also important that the Government promptly conducts an audit of all agreements with our partners to determine what is working and what requires reassessment or intensification.
Today, I met with the Minister of Defense of Denmark – I thanked him for the support. Our cooperation with Denmark is nearly exemplary – many projects have already been implemented, and many agreements are in place. Today we discussed our next joint steps. And we are currently preparing for a conversation with the President of France – I always value Emmanuel’s perspective and the coordination of our policy, our collaboration with France.
I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine! I thank everyone who is helping us keep global attention focused on Ukraine, on the needs of our state and our people.
Glory to Ukraine!