Statement by the President of Ukraine During the Joint Press Conference Together with the President of the Czech Republic

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Dear Mr. President, dear Petr!

Dear journalists, dear attendees!

Today we welcome in Ukraine the President of the Czech Republic - our true friend, a friend of Ukraine. The Czech Republic and, personally, Mr. President have walked a long path together with us throughout all these years of the full-scale war, and there are things that have helped us greatly, and there are things that continue to help us greatly. In particular, this is the Czech artillery initiative, which is working effectively and will continue throughout this year, and this is very important for us - we discussed this today with Mr. President. Of course, we value all of the Czech Republic's political, economic, and humanitarian support, as well as the Czech Republic's attention to what is happening to our people here in Ukraine. First of all, I informed Mr. President about the situation on the frontline, as well as about our needs in Ukraine's recovery. Petr saw firsthand the very harsh winter conditions in which Ukrainians have to restore essential services every day after Russian strikes. And each of these strikes against our energy sector and our cities quite clearly shows Russia's real interests and intentions - they are not interested in agreements, but in the further destruction of Ukraine. And this is precisely why diplomacy is stalling. And that is why now, as before, we all need to remain focused on cooperation, to stand together politically - all of us in Europe, and, of course, all Europeans together with America. Despite everything, the Ukrainian team is actively working with the envoys of the U.S. President - meetings of our representatives in the United States are scheduled for the coming days. The Ukrainian delegation is currently en route to the United States, and we hope there will be more clarity both on the documents that we have already largely prepared with the American side and on Russia's response to all the diplomatic work that has been taking place and is taking place.

Today, with Mr. President, we discussed the situation in diplomacy - globally. And also in our relations at the European level: what concerns the European Union and Ukraine, European programs and Ukraine. This year, initiatives that are extremely important to us are set to be launched, and we expect that they will indeed support both our state and all of us in Europe. In particular, there is a decision you are aware of regarding 90 billion euros for Ukraine for two years, and this is a fair decision. In fact, this is the financing of our defense and our recovery at the expense of Russian assets. Russia must pay for what it is doing. Accordingly, honest and fair mechanisms are needed for the use of these funds: both the 90 billion that have been allocated and the Russian assets that are frozen in Europe. And these mechanisms must effectively work to strengthen us - Ukraine and Ukrainians. There is the pan-European defense program SAFE, and we expect that Ukraine's participation in the program will be substantial. We have already demonstrated that we can produce effective weapons together, and together with the Czech Republic we can further increase this cooperation, primarily in the production of artillery and drones, including interceptor drones. It is important that our European partners allocate a specific share within the SAFE program in their countries specifically for Ukraine - because it is our country, and our warriors, who currently have the best expertise in Europe regarding weapons and tactics that actually work. We must also continue our active cooperation with everyone in Europe within the framework of the PURL initiative, which allows us to purchase American weapons for our defense, including missiles for Patriots and not only that - missiles for NASAMS, and many other things we need right now - while at the same time developing truly effective and practical relations between Europe and the United States. Only such practical cooperation with America as we have now can yield truly significant results, and we expect Europeans to be as active this year as they were last year. We also expect that our previous arrangements regarding air defense, as well as your country's connections around the world, will help with our most urgent task - protection from Russia's daily strikes. We are grateful for this.

Thank you, Mr. President. And on behalf of our entire state, as a sign of respect for you personally, for the Czech people and the Czech Republic, and as a sign of gratitude, we would like to honor you with our state award.