Thank you very much, Secretary Austin, thank you for the invitation and thank you very much for your leadership in this Ramstein format and for working with all of our partners. Thank you, dear partners, for your strong support.
Minister Pistorius, thank you very much for your support and highly practical and effective approach to cooperation and for welcoming us today.
Dear Ministers! Dear Generals! General Cavoli, General Brown! All our partners!
I’m glad to see all of you. And very much appreciate for continuously being with us since the start of this war and until now when our brigades hold the line on the battlefield thanks to the bravery of our Ukrainian people and your ironclad support. Now in Pokrovsk and in Toretsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine it is especially overriding to feel the power of our agreements.
Dear friends!
Today marks one month since our army’s operation began in the Kursk region of Russia. This is the borderland from which Putin was preparing to expand the war into Ukrainian territory – he was preparing to launch a new offensive against our city of Sumy. We’ve turned the tables and are pushing the war into Russia through our counteroffensive. Today, we control an area of more than thirteen hundred square kilometers in the Kursk region. And this includes one hundred settlements. A significant part of this territory was abandoned by Russian troops – they simply fled when they saw our forces approaching. Of course, a significant part of the territory was taken under control by our forces in the battles. So far, during the first month of our operation in the Kursk region, the Russian forces have lost about six thousand soldiers killed and wounded in Kursk only and other tens of thousands of Russian troops in other war zones.
Thanks to our actions, there is currently no threat that Russia will launch a new offensive operation on our territory against the city of Sumy, as was the case in May this year when Putin launched an assault against our city of Kharkiv.
We also see changes in the overall war situation.
First of all, as a result of our actions, Putin has shown his real interest. And this should be obvious even to those who could still believe that Putin is at war to protect some of his people or some of his security interests. At the same time as our advance in the Kursk region, the Russian army continues its offensive in Ukraine. The most capable units of the Russian army are involved in expanding the zone of occupation of our territory – in the Donetsk region. This is a clear choice by Moscow. Putin wants more Ukraine to occupy than he wants security for Russia. He doesn’t care about Russian land and people – he just wants to grab as much of our land and as many of our cities as possible.
Secondly, Putin has already shed so much blood that against the backdrop of this blood, Russia’s attempts to draw “red lines” simply do not work. Instead we need to keep our morale high for our joint values to rule the world and not the “red lines” soaked in blood. We have to sustain our spirit, stamina for the world to live by rules, to be governed by law and to ensure security for all of us, for all nations. And every operation that contributes to this, deserves your full support.
And third, we do want to end this war – we want peace. We want to save our people first of all, our country. It is Putin who doesn’t want peace, and he is obsessed with territorial conquests. He wants our cities or the ruins that remain of them. And that is why we need strength. We need to force Russia to seek peace. We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need – peace or Putin? And it is realistic to push them to choose peace.
Dear partners, dear friends, I want to say a few things now in public and some things later without the press.
You all know that we are operating with a minimum of weaponry. Yes, we are grateful for every support package that is provided to Ukraine from you, from your countries. But we need more weapons to drive Russian forces off our land and especially in the Donetsk region.
Now, there are many people here at Ramstein who are actually warriors. And each of you understands how important it is for a soldier to know that the frontline is not only based on a soldier’s loyalty to his country and his oath, but also on a sufficient supply of weapons. That is why it is important that every support package that is announced is promptly put to work on the battlefield – without any delay. The fighting in the Donetsk region depends on this. If Putin does not have any achievements there, he will not have any achievements anywhere or in anything.
Next.
I’m grateful to all partners for the fact that the NATO Summit in Washington was marked by decisions on air defense systems for Ukraine. I will not speak openly now about the number of systems we have received, thank you so much again, but the number of air defense systems that have not yet been delivered is significant. This is what was agreed upon, and this is what has not been fully implemented. The world has enough air defense systems to ensure that Russian terror does not have results. I urge you to be more active in this work with us on air defense. And we have already started operating F-16s. Thank you for this support, Secretary! And to you, partners! They strike down missiles and drones, they are very efficient but they are few. You know that. We need a much stronger fleet of F-16s, and I have proposals that I will say when the press leaves.
Third point.
Long-range capability. I’m glad that the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy are represented here. Thank you so much! I want to say this openly so that there is no speculation. Thanks to our joint courage, we have implemented very important operations, in particular in Crimea. These operations allowed us to return security to the Black Sea and our food exports. Now we hear that your long-range policy has not changed, but we see changes in the ATACMS, Storm Shadows and Scalps – a shortage of missiles and cooperation. And this applies even to our territory, which is occupied by Russia, including Crimea. We think it is wrong that there are such steps. We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace.
And one more thing I would like to say.
Investments. We are ready to produce more of our own weapons, right here in Ukraine. We are ready to work with you on joint production. This includes drones, missiles, and other weapons that have proven themselves in combat and can strengthen your men and women in the Defense Forces after this war. To achieve this, we need funding – we are ready to quickly produce everything that will help us bring this war to an end, namely, by putting decisive pressure on Russia for real peace. Let’s make this fall a time for Russian aggression to fall – in a way that will end the war and restore a reliable international security order.
We must do it.
Thank you very much again for all your support! Thank you so much for the invitation, Secretary!
Thank you! Glory to Ukraine!
