During a working visit to the Zhytomyr region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Kaja Kallas visited Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University and talked to the student community.
The Head of State and the Prime Minister of Estonia visited the laboratories of telecommunications, radio communications, robotics, cybersecurity, digitization and mining-ecological laboratory.
The President noted that some developments will be needed in postwar life in peaceful Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kaja Kallas talked to the students and answered their questions.
The Head of State noted that he is always happy to meet with students, as it allows him to see what the future of Ukraine would look like.
"I see that this is a smart, pretty and powerful future, just like our state," he said. Answering students' questions, the President emphasized that education has faced a number of challenges in recent years, the most serious of which is the war. But even before Russia's full-scale invasion, during the COVID-19 pandemic, our educational space was able to reformat to adapt to the challenges.
"Education is an important social space where you need to communicate, invent something together, and love each other, which is also very important. Because with the birth of an idea, a state is born, and I believe that ideas are born in communication, in dialogue. That is, people must have contact with each other. Online education began with COVID, and now we see great digital progress in our country," the President noted.
According to him, digitization helped education during the pandemic and allowed it to adapt to the war.
At the same time, the Head of State emphasized that online learning is a necessary step under martial law, as children must go to school, communicate with each other and with teachers.
"So this moment - how to return to normal life - will be a challenge. Various programs will be needed to adapt children to normal life," he said.
Speaking about his dreams, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that today our country is united by a common dream that has made it possible to resist a powerful enemy.
"Our dreams are quite ordinary, but pragmatic for Ukraine and, as it turned out, for the whole world. The dream is to win. The dream is to rebuild our state," the President noted.
"I would like us to return to all our territories. To rebuild, to be proud of our state," he added.
According to the Head of State, Ukraine is currently implementing the most important reform - the reform of security in the world.
"If we put the aggressor in his place, I think it will be the right example for all other aggressors not to start any aggressions in the world... Therefore, my dream is for Ukraine to take its rightful place in the security infrastructure of the world and Europe, where our opinion would be taken into account. Because we have done a lot thanks to the power of our people," the Head of State emphasized.
The President noted that our experience and knowledge are valuable to the world.
In addition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine's place is in the European Union and NATO.
The Estonian Prime Minister added that her country has gone through a difficult path of reforms and consolidation of political forces on its way to EU membership. According to her, Ukraine is striving to join the EU and is implementing the necessary reforms, in particular in the fight against corruption and building a free market.
The President of Ukraine thanked the students for communication and wished them success and victory.
"We cannot fight for buildings, for stones - we are all fighting for people. I want to thank you for your great help, for your struggle, for your presence. It is very important," the Head of State said.