President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a virtual meeting of state leaders on the support for Ukraine. The meeting gathered leaders and representatives of states, the European Union and NATO. The Summit was co-chaired by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer and President of France Emmanuel Macron.
The President of Ukraine noted that on March 11, the United States had proposed a full, unconditional ceasefire for 30 days. During this time, it would truly be possible to negotiate all aspects of a real peace. But Russia is doing everything to prevent it, spreading lies about the complexity of the ceasefire and the situation on the battlefield.
“This is Russia's war – more than three years of full-scale fighting and destruction. To stop this, active pressure is needed, not just talks – pressure on Russia. Strong measures are needed to take even the first steps toward ending the war. This includes sanctions – sanctions against Russia must not only be maintained but continuously strengthened,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
The President also called on the partners to define a clear position on security guarantees, to keep working on the deployment of contingents and define commitments on how this will function, as well as to boost and increase defense production and strengthen air defense in Ukraine and Europe.
“This is a very bad signal – taking the Russians' opinion into account regarding the contingent. The contingent must be stationed on Ukrainian soil. This is a security guarantee for Ukraine and for Europe. If Putin wants to bring some foreign contingent onto Russia's territory, that's his business. But it is not his business to decide anything about Ukraine's and Europe's security,” the Head of State noted.