Thank you very much!
Mr. President – Nikos, thank you for today’s visit, for the invitation, and our conversation.
First of all, what I want to say, we are grateful to Denmark for its presidency. And we respect its territorial integrity and sovereignty. And we appreciate the beginning of the Cyprus presidency. And we respect its territorial integrity and sovereignty. We are Ukraine, please respect our territorial integrity and sovereignty.
And dear Mr. President – Nikos, Ursula, António, our friends, thanks for today’s meeting!
Dear Maia!
Presidents and Excellencies!
I’m glad to be here as Cyprus begins its presidency of the Council of the European Union. And this is a presidency we all expect a lot from.
For Ukraine, this moment is really very, very meaningful – just as it is for Cyprus – a member state that, unfortunately, remains divided, but committed to lasting peace – and is fully equal in Europe. And a country that may be smaller in size but has an equal voice in European institutions. This says a lot about what Europe truly is – that every nation matters, and every free country in Europe deserves to be part of our shared European home. And that is what makes Europe stable and peaceful.
Ukraine also deserves this – to be an equal part of our common European home. And we hope that your presidency will be productive in moving us forward on this path.
Nikos and I discussed this today. It is very important that Ukraine is among the priorities of the Cyprus presidency. And we are grateful for what the President has said – that we should aim to open negotiation clusters at the same time during your presidency – for both, of course, for both, Ukraine and our friends – Moldova. And this is a strong and positive ambition.
And during your presidency, we hope to see the start of the implementation of the €90 billion support package for Ukraine – funding that strengthens our resilience, and with it, the resilience of all of Europe. And thank you again, Ursula, thank you, António, thank you for your support, and all the European leaders, for the decision, a very important decision – how to save Ukraine, it means how to save Europe. We need a practical mechanism that will allow these funds to truly help Ukraine. This mechanism must be designed not to create problems, of course, but to reduce the challenges we already face. And we are doing everything required on our side in the negotiation process, and we expect that no additional or excessive demands will be placed on Ukraine.
At the same time, as Cyprus begins its presidency, peace negotiations have reached a new level of intensity. We work very, very actively – Ukraine, our European partners, and of course, the United States, and all members of our Coalition of the Willing – from Canada to Japan, from the EU to Australia. And it is possible – and we sincerely hope – that this war could end during your presidency. And of course, only if enough pressure is put on the aggressor.
And we all understand how wars like this one – Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, our people, our children – come to an end. And when pressure is strong enough to exhaust the source of the war, peace comes. That pressure exists now, and the EU plays a key role in maintaining it. And I thank you for your willingness to help. Sanctions on Russia, support for Ukraine, strengthening our defense together – all of this works for peace, of course. And we have discussed – at the EU level, within the Coalition of the Willing, and in our bilateral work with Cyprus – that sanctions need to be upgraded. A new package is being prepared. And many steps are being taken to target Russia’s shadow fleet, and this will work. Every dollar Russia loses is a dollar that does not fuel the aggressor.
It's extremely important that we continue receiving support – both for our defense and for our diplomacy – equally from all parts of Europe. That’s why your support matters to us – your recent visit to Ukraine, Mr. President, and the unity we’re showing now, at the start of the Cyprus presidency.
This year, one of the new European initiatives, very important – the SAFE program – must also prove its effectiveness. If it succeeds, Europe will become stronger. And in many ways, this depends on your presidency, Mr. President. And we hope that together with you – with Cyprus and with every EU country – we can work productively, of course.
And I wish you a very successful presidency. I truly hope that during these months, Europe will become stronger, of course, and that people across our continent will feel that tomorrow can be safer, more stable, and better than today. I also deeply believe that together, we can help deliver one of the most important guarantees of peace and security – for our nation and for the whole of Europe – Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
Thank you so much.
