President of Ukraine

Speeches

Together with America and Europe, peace can be more secure; and that is our goal. And most importantly – this should be not only our goal, but a shared one with our partners.

Everything needed to protect lives in modern war should be produced in Europe – fully. Europe has everything it takes. Europe just needs to come together and start acting in a way that no one can say “No” to Europe, boss it around, or treat it like a pushover.

I instructed the Commander-in-Chief to discuss this with Brigadier General Serhii Holubtsov and report back on a possible personnel change in the Air Force, including the consideration of appointing General Holubtsov as Deputy Commander of the Air Force.

I had a conversation with President Trump – a good and detailed discussion; I am grateful to the President for his genuine interest in our shared opportunities, in how we can work together to bring real peace closer.

Our completed power units will allow Ukraine to operate without imports, even during the winter months. And it will definitely help us keep electricity prices from rising for the people.

We are already actively preparing for negotiations with our partners – both European and American – starting on Wednesday.

Today marks an important event for our region and for Europe as a whole. The Baltic states – good friends of Ukraine – have disconnected from the Russian energy grid. Their energy systems are now fully synchronized with the European continental system.

We must see together what the threats are and what countermeasures we have. We need a clear understanding: here in Europe, every country will have to strengthen its defense, and the target of 5% of GDP for defense will not disappear from the agenda.

Drones are the technological backbone of modern warfare. Ukrainians must be leaders in this field. And in many ways, we already are.

Our Air Force has now been reinforced with French Mirage fighter jets, marking another step forward in the development of Ukrainian military aviation. This will allow us to carry out more missions. I also thank the Netherlands – a new batch of F-16 fighter jets has arrived, and this is significant.