Address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, May 15, 2023

The main results of these days – our victory has been brought closer

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

Three long days – and our warriors and our state are getting stronger. Much stronger, I am sure of it.

We are returning home with new defense packages: more new and powerful weapons for the frontline, more protection for our people. More political support.

Italy – good talks with Giorgia, Madam Prime Minister. Meeting with the Pope, quite encouraging. Meeting with the President of Italy.

Germany – Mr. President Steinmeier, meeting with Mr. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which was particularly meaningful for our defense.

In addition to Berlin, we also visited Aachen. I visited a military base, inspected Leopards, Marders, and thanked our soldiers who are training on German equipment.

On behalf of the Ukrainian people and in honor of the Ukrainian people, we received a significant European award named after Charlemagne in Aachen. It was the first time that the Ukrainian language was spoken in the hall where the laureates are honored. Ukrainian will be one of the official languages of the European Union, I am sure of it.

France – a meeting with President Macron, long, useful talks. There is a new military package. It is powerful. There are new political agreements.

Great Britain – meeting with Rishi, Mr. Prime Minister Sunak. Defense and very important British leadership in military coalitions.

We coordinated our positions before the international events scheduled for the near future: before the G7, the summit in Vilnius.

Our Peace Formula was discussed at all the meetings, and now there is more willingness of our partners to follow the Ukrainian formula. There is more support for our accession to the EU, more understanding that Ukraine’s accession to NATO will happen, it is inevitable.

I thank Italy for its help in protecting the lives of our people – from protecting the sky to preparing for the full reconstruction of Ukraine after hostilities.

I am grateful to Germany for the largest defense package – 2 billion 700 million euros. IRIS-T air defense systems of various modifications, a lot of missiles for them, guns, shells, armored vehicles…

In addition, Germany will support our country in the long term, with 11 billion euros for defense. Germany also participates in the European Peace Facility, which strengthens our defense.

I thank France for the new opportunities for our soldiers in countering Russian terror, and now is not the time to talk about the details. Thank you for additional equipment, for additional armored vehicles. I thank you for your help in consolidating our partners.

I am grateful to the UK for agreeing to train our pilots. We are creating a coalition to train pilots on modern Western aircraft. The UK agreed, Poland agreed, and I’m sure France and other partners will join. We continue our work on the fighter jet coalition as well, and we are moving forward actively. Of course, I am grateful to the UK for the long-range capabilities for our warriors.

So, the main results of these days are new weapons for Ukraine, respect for Ukrainians, and our victory has been brought closer.

And we will add more support! I know it. I believe in it.

Glory to all those who are in combat for our country! Glory to everyone who helps! Glory to all who train our warriors!

Glory to Ukraine!

Source: President of Ukraine’s official website