We Need to Establish Peace in a Way That putin Can No Longer Break – President’s Address to the JEF Summit Participants

Thank you so much, Kristen! Thank you so much for the invitation and this opportunity to speak!

Dear friends!

I’m glad to see you all and truly grateful for your steady support and attention to Ukraine.

First, I want to highlight the EU’s decision on new sanctions against Russia and your determination – especially from the Baltic and North Sea countries – to limit Russia’s shadow tanker fleet not just with sanctions, but in other ways too. This fleet is one of the biggest threats. Putin uses these tankers to finance his war, and most of these vessels are old, poorly maintained, and operate without any oversight. Just recently, near the Kerch Strait, two oil tankers sank. These ships were nearly 50 years old. They shouldn’t have been in operation at all, especially in this part of the waters and during this season. Right now, our sea is facing yet another environmental disaster caused by Russia. There are much larger and more dangerous Russian tankers operating in your seas. This fleet must be stopped. Doing so will not only cut off Russia’s war funding but will also protect nature. I urge you to take even stronger action to ensure that the shadow tanker fleet and other Russian vessels, including those transporting weapons, can no longer operate in European waters.

Second. You’ve probably all received reports about North Korean troops being involved in combat. Right now, Ukrainian soldiers are holding off assaults with North Korean soldiers taking part. Their numbers could grow, and we all need to be aware of this. This clearly shows that Putin can’t cope alone, so he’s pulling others into a bigger war.

Pyongyang disregards human life just as much as Moscow does, paying Russia with people in exchange for goods and military technologies. This brings us back, again and again, to the need to strengthen our defense cooperation – in producing all types of weapons that enable standoff warfare. We need to protect our people. We must do everything possible to destroy Russia’s ability to wage war from as far away as possible. For this, we need more drones, more modern artillery, and long-range missiles. I thank you, friends, for investing in our defense production and for increasing weapons manufacturing in your own countries. Our arsenals must match the threats we face, and European industry is fully capable of achieving this. But we need to scale up this cooperation – and these investments. We’ve also previously discussed, in our different meetings, preparing our joint brigade – with contributions from the Nordic and Baltic states, as well as the UK and the Netherlands. I ask you to make this happen.

Third. Air defense. Last Friday night, the Russians launched a massive missile attack on our energy infrastructure. They waited for the cold weather to strike. There were 94 missiles and nearly 200 attack drones in this strike. Fortunately, we managed to defend ourselves. But we know – this is just a pause, and Russia will try to strike again as soon as they are ready, they always do this. That’s why we need a reliable guarantee of protection against air terror, and this means having enough air defense systems. We need the full implementation of the agreements on air defense deliveries, particularly those made at the NATO Summit in Washington. We remember that to compensate for the inability to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance at that stage, a significant number of air defense systems were promised to us. I ask for your help to deliver on this. And frankly, our partners know – we need 12-15 more systems, besides these, to fully protect our country from Russian missile strikes. It’s doable. The main thing is our partners’ political will. I am specifically addressing the United States first of all. The United States and Europe of course. And also to the friends who are now online, and also our friends from Sweden – a country that has the capability to quickly provide a full Patriot battery by delivering both radar and launch systems. As for other possibilities, our team is already in touch with your teams.

And one more thing. Every new month of this fight between Russia and the free world – proves the importance of coordinating our efforts. We all need to stand together. Russia will keep escalating its threats as long as they can afford to. That’s why we need more joint work, more coordinated steps and efforts. We must strengthen all our cooperation formats – including the Joint Expeditionary Force. Ukraine is ready to engage more and join JEF as a member. 

We all understand that next year could be the year this war ends. We must make it happen. We need to establish peace in a way that Putin can no longer break, a peace that’s not just a pause, but a real, lasting peace. I am confident we can achieve this. The key is not to be afraid of our own joint strength.

Again, thank you so much for the invitation. Thank you.

Glory to Ukraine!