Speeches

Weak responses to Russian brazenness spur Russia to continue the war. We need so many sanctions, so much pressure, so much support for life that Russia is stripped of all means of existence in wartime.

Today, we have introduced a new sanctions package zeroing in on Russia’s activities in the Arctic. This is one of Russia’s cash cows: A significant portion of the resources the enemy sells each year are extracted precisely from the lands and waters of the Arctic.

A great deal of work with partners is currently underway – primarily for the sake of our air defense and our energy sector, which are key priorities amid such Russian strikes. Practically every day, our power engineers, repair brigades, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine are carrying out restorations on-site after attacks.

Today, I was in the Donetsk and Dnipro regions, and – most importantly – in the Pokrovsk sector, with those very corps that are doing the crucial work: destroying the occupier, defending Pokrovsk, defending Myrnohrad, defending Dobropillia. I want to thank every warrior, every unit engaged here and on other parts of the front.

Of course, more systems are needed to protect key infrastructure sites and our cities across the entire territory of our state. And we will continue working to obtain them – not only at the political level with states and leaders but also directly with manufacturers of all necessary air defense systems and missiles for them.

I just held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister of Social Policy, and I also spoke with the CEO of Naftogaz – we are preparing support programs for our people, for all Ukrainians, this winter.

Today I held several meetings on our foreign policy activity for the week ahead – covering weapons for Ukraine, financial support, and our shared political outcomes in relations between Ukraine and the European Union.

Oil exports are the foundation of Russia’s arrogance, and if sanctions are maintained and strengthened, Russia will suffer significant losses. They could amount to at least 50 billion dollars next year, which is a strong argument for Russia to develop a motive to end this war.

We continue our sanctions work – we are preparing new sanctions, in particular against targets in Russia’s military production and their propaganda. We must gradually block all global contacts for every Russian entity working for the war. The decrees will be issued soon.

We are working practically on a daily basis on air defense as well, engaging with every partner that can help with air defense systems and also with missiles.