Thank you very much personally, Emmanuel. Thank you for everything.
Dear Mr. President,
Distinguished journalists!
I am grateful for this visit, for all of France’s support for Ukraine and for Ukrainians, and for your personal support, Emmanuel. We in Ukraine know all this and value it greatly. We also value the fact that we can always coordinate with France and stand together on many issues – that is so important, especially during wartime. Today, Emmanuel, his team, and I – we are also grateful to our colleagues – focused primarily on security. Our security – that of Ukraine, of Europe, and global security, particularly in light of developments in the Middle East and the Gulf region.
Yesterday in Iraq, a French serviceman was killed in an Iranian strike – please accept my personal condolences, my deepest sympathies, and those of all Ukrainians, to his family and loved ones. Soldiers were also injured, and we hope for their speedy recovery. And it is extremely important for everyone around the world that, through joint efforts, we succeed in stabilizing the situation and prevent this war from spreading further as well. Everyone sees the loss of life, everyone sees the destruction, and the threats to different countries in the region; everyone sees the destabilization of global markets due to the effective halt of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Opinions may vary regarding this U.S. campaign against the Iranian regime, but it is hard for anyone to argue with the fact that the regime in Iran is terrorist in nature, and the entire region – and Iran itself – certainly needs far greater respect for life and stronger protection of life, first and foremost from this regime in Iran.
Ukraine can contribute to stabilization. More than ten countries have already approached us for support in defending against “shaheds” – Iranian attack drones. These are essentially the same attack drones that the Iranian regime supplied to Russia and taught the Russians to use them against the civilian population of Ukraine. Today, we in Ukraine have the greatest expertise in the world in countering “shaheds” – because of this war, and certainly because of all these massive attacks: this includes the development of interceptors, our new expertise, and a systemic defense against drones, primarily Iranian ones. It is not enough simply to obtain interceptors somewhere – there must also be experience in using them. Our warriors have such experience. There must also be proper systemic work with radars and with the entire air defense system.
Ukraine is ready to share this experience for the security of those partners who are helping us. Naturally, we went over this with Emmanuel, and naturally, we will coordinate all our efforts. Of course, we believe that Europe must also put such defenses in place. Russia’s war against Ukraine and Iran’s strikes against countries in the region demonstrate what modern warfare looks like, what the threats are, and how partners must cooperate to ensure protection. The President of France and I have also discussed this in detail, and we are ready to work together with France. It is important that France takes a leading role in these joint defense projects for Europe.
Of course, today and always, Emmanuel and I maintain substantive coordination on issues related to our protection in Ukraine and our defense. Emmanuel is clearly informed about all aspects of the situation on the frontline, and I am grateful to you for your support and grateful for your advice.
And today we are devoting significant attention – just now, in an expanded format with our teams, and in the one-on-one conversation that will take place a little later, after the press conference – to joint defense production. We discussed both bilateral projects and the SAFE instrument. All of this represents significant potential that can strengthen both our states and all of Europe. Ukraine is grateful for France’s defense support throughout all these years, and today we identified steps and specific decisions that can deliver strong results. This concerns both air defense and combat aviation.
We discussed our cooperation with France at the European Union level and within the Coalition of the Willing. We remember how effective the leadership of France and Emmanuel personally was in enabling Ukraine to obtain candidate status for accession to the European Union. It was a historic step, a historic event. I am very grateful to you, Emmanuel. Now, France’s leadership can also be decisive in many respects for Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union. We are discussing possible formats; there must be a clear date for such accession – at least we strongly want this – so that Russia has absolutely no opportunity to block Ukraine through Russian accomplices somewhere here in Europe.
It is important to continue putting pressure on Russia over this war in order to achieve genuine security and a lasting peace. We must overcome the blocking of the European Union’s 20th sanctions package against Russia. Emmanuel has already spoken about this. This is all the more important in light of the U.S. decisions to partially ease sanctions on Russian oil currently on tankers at sea. This easing alone on the part of the United States could provide Russia with around ten billion dollars for the war. This certainly does not help peace. And that is why the European Union’s resolve, and that of other partners around the world, must remain firm – it must work in a way that leaves Russia with no illusions. Russia must end this war. And I am grateful to everyone who is helping us in this effort.
One more point. For us, support for the €90 billion package for Ukraine over the next two years is crucial – it is our financial security guarantee. And now, ahead of the European leaders’ meeting in Brussels next week, we are coordinating our positions to secure the unblocking of these funds. At a time when Russia is effectively gaining additional resources due to yet another wave of destabilization, Ukraine must receive what Europe has already decided on. It is important that Europe’s decisions work. France supports us in this.
Thank you for this, Emmanuel! Thank you!
Glory to Ukraine!
