Friedrich – Mr. Chancellor,
Dear journalists, dear representatives of our teams, the teams of our countries,
Today, in a difficult security situation, when Russian drone strikes are taking place virtually every hour, the Chancellor of Germany is here in Kyiv. And this is the right signal of support for Ukraine and of the courage of Germany and all of Europe. Thank you very much, Friedrich.
In recent days, Russia has openly tried to intimidate our European, American, and other partners – through direct threats, constant air raid alerts, and strikes – so that our partners would not be here in the capital, would not be in Ukraine. But I am very grateful that this visit is taking place, that the German embassy continues its work in Ukraine, and that the full range of our cooperation with Germany, our strategic partnership, remains intact.
I also want to highlight my personal relationship with the Chancellor. Some important matters – without unnecessary intermediaries – those concerning defense and the necessary decisions, we discuss directly, and there is always a readiness to support and a readiness to help.
We in Ukraine greatly value this level of our relations, and we concur that Ukraine’s ability to withstand – specifically, to withstand now – to defend itself and achieve a dignified peace is ultimately also the ability of Germany and all of Europe to preserve the peaceful and united way of life that has changed so much in Europe for the better and done so much for the well-being of Europeans over the past decades. Russia is waging its war here with all its “shaheds,” missiles, and assaults not only to seize Ukraine, but to rewrite Europe’s history and seize for itself the right to determine the fate of other European states as well. I thank everyone who speaks openly about this and builds their policy on an understanding of reality – the political realities that determine what may happen to Europe next and what everyone needs to be protected from. The Chancellor spoke about this, in particular, on October 1 during the presentation of the Westphalian Peace Prize, and I thank him for his clear position and serious vision.
Today, Friedrich and I had a very productive meeting. Together with the Chancellor, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche is in Kyiv today, along with a strong – a very strong – business delegation. There is a new support package for Ukraine – a comprehensive package worth more than €1.3 billion. It includes weapons that will help us now, as well as support for our energy sector, which is very important, ahead of winter – an important energy package. This comprehensive package from Germany also includes funding for the production of new interceptors specifically against jet-powered “shaheds,” and this is particularly important.
Of course, we discussed the need for air defense, which is critical at this time. Russia is betting precisely on aerial strikes – on the front, the Russians are unable to achieve any significant results, and that is exactly why they are escalating their terror with “shaheds” and missiles. This week alone, there have already been 900 jet-powered “shaheds.” The use of regular “shaheds” also continues, along with a significant number of ballistic missiles. Protection against all of this is the number one priority for me and for Ukraine, and Friedrich and I discussed what else, specifically, we can do together.
I am grateful to Germany for its participation in our FREYJA program – together with other leading European countries and companies. We need to move quickly – faster – to create this large-scale and powerful anti-ballistic system, which will definitely improve Ukraine’s security position and the security position of all of Europe. We have a complete mutual understanding on this.
As of today, we have 15 agreements and documents with the German side, and most of them concern security cooperation, production, relevant procurement, our orders for German industry, and joint projects in Ukraine. The total value of our agreements today is more than €8.5 billion. This includes, in particular, our orders for German industry. We are counting on them very much, and they are very important and very substantial. A special agreement was signed that creates more opportunities for our joint efforts to counter drones. Especially after Russia’s attempted sabotage using drones at Leipzig Airport, and against the backdrop of constant drone incidents in other European countries, it should be obvious to everyone that protection against all types of drones is a fundamental security task, and it can only be accomplished together. This concerns the protection of infrastructure, the protection of our borders, and the protection of the sea. Overall, Europe’s potential – in security, political and diplomatic, and technological terms – must be combined to the fullest extent so that the Russians feel that their potential for aggression and sabotage against Europe is clearly smaller than our combined potential. And this can become the right foundation for a new policy of deterring Russia.
And one more point. Yesterday was German Unity Day. It is one of the most important days not only for the German state, but for all of Europe. A day that proves that peoples will always prevail over dictators. Today, our cooperation proves exactly the same thing: Russia must not prevail. “Shaheds,” missiles, and war must not prevail. Life must prevail. Thank you, Germany. Thank you, Friedrich. Thank you to all of Europe for standing with Ukraine and helping us protect life. But Germany is not only helping Ukraine – we are helping each other. That is true. Ukraine and Germany are already jointly producing drones. Ukraine will purchase more weapons and equipment from Germany. Work has begun – joint work – on creating UAV units; there are relevant proposals – UAV units in Germany. We are ready to help with training and to share our experience. This is absolutely fair. Our ministers discussed this today as well. We are also ready to work on expanding the use of our energy protection technologies – our teams discussed this today too.
Thank you for supporting our diplomatic efforts. Today, Russia is avoiding all real formats of negotiations that could change the situation. Russia is constantly producing new assaults, new massive attacks, and new artificial reasons and pretexts for why, supposedly, it is not yet the right time to meet. Together with Germany, we are doing everything to make diplomacy possible, to ensure that meetings and the necessary formats take place, and that Europe is part of the diplomatic process. Thank you for your support in this as well.
Glory to Ukraine!
