Thank you so much!
Dear friends!
Dear Giorgia, thank you very much for your kind words, very strong words, for your support. Thank you for warmly hosting this important meeting for Ukraine, for Ukrainians.
Dear Ursula, António, Friedrich, Peter, Donald, Edi, Pedro, Dick, Rosen, Petteri, Christen, Kyriakos, Milojko all the leaders and all the participants of the Conference, and all who stand with Ukraine today. Thank you so much!
Thank you all for your attention to Ukraine, to the needs of our people, first of all, and to our shared responsibility to do everything necessary to protect life.
Russia has also “prepared” for this meeting. Just last night, they launched another massive attack on Ukraine – mainly targeting our capital, Kyiv. The attack involved Russian-Iranian Shahed drones. These drones have been heavily upgraded to cause more destruction and to be harder to shoot down. Ukrainians now face attacks by hundreds, hundreds of these drones every single night. And this is pure terrorism.
The night before last, they launched over 700 drones and missiles. Last night – nearly 400. And they try to do this as often as possible. This is exactly what Putin wants – for our people to suffer, to flee Ukraine, and for homes, schools, for life itself – to be destroyed everywhere, not just near the front lines.
Remember – just a year ago, many people thought Russia wanted real peace, real talks and a ceasefire. Moscow was sending those signals, and it was all part of their propaganda – trying to say that Ukraine didn’t want peace. But we said back then – there must be pressure on Russia because it was not preparing for peace. And now everyone sees that Putin has rejected every peace proposal and is escalating the violence.
Just last night, in Kyiv alone, sadly, two people were killed, and 16 were injured. A medical lab was completely destroyed. Residential buildings, a shopping center, a veterinary clinic, and basic city infrastructure were all damaged. And that was with many of the drones and missiles being shot down. Still, some made it through. This is what we must focus on first – we must stop Russian drones and missiles. This means more air defense supplies and more investments in interceptor drones, air defense systems, and, of course, missiles.
I urge all our partners – increase your investments. When Russia increases its attacks, we cannot have a shortage of funding for drone production.
More than 30 countries and hundreds of companies are represented at the Conference today. And we must reach a point where Ukraine’s air defense and drone sector is supported by over 30 countries and backed by hundreds of companies – not only from Ukraine, but also from Europe, the United States, and beyond.
Please, speak to our team for details.
Ukraine has some of the world’s most advanced drone technologies for both offensive and defensive. We are ready to share this expertise and these technologies with our partners. Ukraine needs investment – you need skills, you need technology. And everything we are building now to protect Ukraine will also help protect you.
I’m grateful to all countries that are part of the coalitions supporting Ukraine’s defense. We've created effective, really effective coalitions, effective drone coalition – and you can see how drones help us hold life, hold front lines and strike Russian military infrastructure deep inside Russia. We also have a strong aviation coalition – thank you to all its members. Ukraine has received and is building up modern combat aviation. This is a huge help – thank you, thank you, partners. And we’ve done it in record time. No other country has switched from Soviet aircraft to F-16s and Mirages this quickly. Thank you to everyone who helped. I also want to highlight the coalition to return our Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. And this is a global effort, involving countries from Italy to Canada. And thank you to each one. Just yesterday, I spoke with Pope Leo about how the Vatican can support this work – and it already is. Today I’ll discuss this with Giorgia and other leaders as well. And really, we must explore every possible way to bring our children back home – to their families, to Ukraine – so they don’t forget who they are and where they come from, and so they’re not used against Ukraine in war or sabotage when they grow up. This is a very serious threat, and we must stand against it together.
Just like these coalitions are working – we now need to build a coalition for recovery. Let this be the moment we start it. We know what Russia has destroyed, and we know what it will take to rebuild Ukraine, Ukrainian people, our lives.
A systematic approach is needed – a coalition with clear leadership – countries and companies that can lead and bring others with them. We also need a clear recovery plan. Think of the role the Marshall Plan played in rebuilding and transforming Europe. That’s why Europe has enjoyed peace and economic growth for so many decades. And now, we have the opportunity to spark a new wave of progress. We need a Marshall Plan-style approach – and we should develop it together. Rebuilding Ukraine is not just about our country, it’s also about your countries, your companies, your technology, your jobs – the way we rebuild our country can also modernize your infrastructure and industries.
And I ask you to support the recovery coalition and help define specific financing mechanisms. We must clearly agree that frozen Russian assets should go toward Ukraine’s recovery. Not only the income from these assets, but the assets themselves must be used, and much more actively than they are now, to help save lives. And we also need a clear system for reconstruction – a special recovery fund and financing at different levels: for Ukraine’s national budget and for local communities. We’re very open to working with any business that can support our strength, production, logistics, and, of course, rebuilding.
And let me emphasize one more thing – in this joint recovery project, we will only welcome true partners – those who are not helping Russia continue this war. Only friends are invited to be part of Ukraine’s economic and technological recovery.
And one last thing.
We are already preparing for the next winter. And we’ve already gone through three winters during this full-scale war. And, of course, first of all, thank you to everyone who helped us then. Thank you! And we need to keep working together to get through the next winter as well. And this can only be done as a shared task and let’s use this Conference to move forward with that. I thank Norway for already, by the way, supporting us. Thank you to the Netherlands for your help. Thanks, Germany. Thanks, Ursula, António – thank you so much for the EU’s continued support in helping Ukraine face energy challenges. Real challenges. And we must keep making sure our people are protected.
I also thank Italy: more than 500 companies – Giorgia, thank you so much, and to your team – more than 500 companies are represented here at the Conference. Around 200 agreements are ready to be signed, with a total value of over 10 billion euros. All of this must be fully implemented. And please – let’s also focus on energy.
Putin has only two real “allies” – terror and winter. And we must respond to both.
Thank you to everyone who is helping!
And let today’s meetings bring real results – results that matter to people and are visible in their lives.
And every day, all of us must stay focused. All of us must keep up the pressure on Russia. All of us must keep working for defense. So that we can bring a real ceasefire as soon as possible. That our drones go to our shared arsenals. That our technologies serve recovery and real life. That we create and start implementing a reliable recovery plan. That our children and our people return home, home – to Ukraine. Let’s do everything we can – for real peace, as soon as possible – just peace.
Glory to Ukraine!
