Mark!
Dear journalists!
Today, Ukraine is hosting our long-standing friend, my friend, a friend to everyone who is committed to genuinely defending Ukraine and all of Europe – Mark Rutte, the NATO Secretary General. Mark, I am very glad to see you. And it is extremely important that today you are here with us, with Ukrainians. You have always stood with our state.
And I am especially glad that you are with us at such a difficult moment – an unquestionably brutal moment of this war – when the Russians have once again disregarded the efforts of the American side. There was a request from the President of the United States to refrain from strikes on energy facilities and critical infrastructure – you know this – during the period of meetings between our negotiating teams. The U.S. President said that strikes should be halted for a week. This is crucial, and it was an important decision. In practice, this began on the night of last Thursday to Friday, and last night, in our view, the Russians broke their promise. So, either Russia now thinks that a week is less than four days instead of seven, or they are genuinely betting only on war and simply waited until the coldest days of this winter, when temperatures across large parts of Ukraine drop below -20°C. Today, Russia carried out a record strike – a harsh one, no doubt – in terms of the use of ballistic missiles. A record of the worst kind, I’d say. There were 28 cruise missiles, as well as another 43 missiles of various types that approach their targets along a ballistic trajectory and can be intercepted only by Patriot systems. What Russia does always clearly demonstrates its intentions. We believe that this Russian strike genuinely violates what the American side had agreed upon, and there must be consequences specifically for this. Everyone can see the weather – these are the most difficult days, the coldest days of this winter right now – and precisely strikes on infrastructure and, above all, on our energy system, aimed at depriving people of power and heat, depriving people of warmth and causing blackouts, reflect Russia’s real attitude toward everything that is happening. We will remain in contact with the American side on this issue, and I expect our partners not to remain silent about what is taking place. It is critical for everyone to continue supporting the defense of our country and our people. Against ballistic threats, the most effective systems – you know this – are Patriots. And this means that missiles are needed – more missiles for Patriots. And that deliveries must be fully resourced and prompt. We are working on this. And I am grateful to Mark for the very strong assistance he is providing in this effort. We discussed this today, and I hope we will be able to implement everything we agreed upon.
I thank every country contributing to the PURL initiative, and I thank Mark for coordinating this program. It is extremely important for us – vital. It’s not just something you know or hear about – I believe everyone in Ukraine feels it. This initiative enables us to purchase, primarily, scarce missiles for air defense systems – precisely those that only the United States can produce. It is important that PURL packages are fully funded. Mark and I will continue working to bring in additional countries to allocate tranches, additional financing for PURL. We discussed this today.
We also finally need to implement in Europe what has long been discussed at various levels: Europe needs genuine self-sufficiency in the production of all necessary means of defense. Licenses are needed so that Europe can produce the protection it requires for itself, including missiles for air defense systems that are available in the United States. We began discussing this all with Mark today, and we very much want there to be sufficient quantities for all systems that are actually used in Ukraine, and that Europe and other countries have. All this must be done. We are proposing such production jointly with Ukraine to our neighbors in Europe and to all other partners that have the relevant capabilities. All of our responses must be joint, sufficient, and effective.
And one more thing. Together with Mark and with all our partners, we continue working to preserve Euro-Atlantic cooperation at this time. We spoke about this today, and we always coordinate such activities. What is currently in our partners’ stockpiles must truly work for defense. What we can produce together – and that is almost everything Europe needs – we must produce to the maximum extent possible. We need to reach this level of cooperation, including through programs such as the SAFE instrument. And, of course, we will continue to coordinate closely to maintain effective relations with America. Thank you, Mark, for your support and for your visit.
Glory to Ukraine!
