"Do your best". Zelenskyy speaks at the G7 summit in Italy

On Thursday, June 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the G7 summit in Italy, the President's Office reports.

The Head of State called on the Group of Seven to make a decision to strengthen air defense in Ukraine, in particular with Patriot air defense systems, and to accelerate the country's transition to F-16 fighters. In addition, Zelenskyy emphasized the need for Ukraine to create a clear plan for the recovery and confiscation of frozen Russian assets. The president hopes that the peace summit will make decisions on energy security.

Dear Giorgia, dear colleagues!

I am glad to see you all.

First of all, Giorgio, I want to thank you for your ability to unite. This is a truly special format of the G7, a global meeting that brings together different parts of the world, and it is right. Only joint actions of the global majority can overcome problems.

I will focus on a few points today.

The first is security.

I am grateful to you for the joint security declaration of the Group of Seven, which was signed last year on July 12. Today, as part of this declaration, we are signing two more security agreements with the United States and Japan. These are strong agreements. By doing so, we are completing the security architecture of relations between Ukraine and the Group of Seven - there will be seven agreements with all of you. Thank you. Our people see that the world's leading democracies are truly committed to supporting Ukraine's independence and the rights of every nation.

Secondly, we need to perfect our cooperation in providing concrete assistance to our soldiers right now. With each of you, we are discussing several things that are most needed: Air defense, especially Petriots, which shoot down all Russian missiles, as well as our long-range capability and ability to destroy Russian terrorists wherever they are, including in Russia itself. The recent authorization to use Western weapons outside our territory to defend Kharkiv and other cities has strengthened our defenses against Russian attacks. But we are still in search of additional "petriots" and need to continue to take the same strong steps as we have taken for our long-range capability. I also ask you to do everything you can to accelerate our transition to the F-16, which means accelerating pilot training and increasing the number of pilot training centers. And I have one message from our military - they are grateful for all the military support packages you have provided and ask you to deliver them to Ukraine, to our soldiers, as soon as possible.

The third is recovery.

This week in Germany, a conference was held on the restoration of Ukraine, and representatives of your countries were there. And I said, and others said, that we need a clear plan for Ukraine's recovery. Similar to the Marshall Plan for Europe after the war. Of course, one that meets the needs of our time and Ukraine. Friends, let's draw up such a recovery plan together and confirm it with a joint G7+ declaration - a recovery declaration. It will also be a declaration of peace, because through recovery, people will see that there will indeed be peace, that we believe in it and care about peace as much as we care about defense. The details can be worked out by our teams, just as they worked out the security declarations. And it may be an ideal solution in terms of timeliness and symbolism to prepare a declaration of restoration just in time for the NATO summit in Washington and adopt it during the summit.

The fourth is Russian assets.

We all understand that it is only fair that Russia pays for the damage caused by the Russian war. I ask you to support the plan to use Russian assets, which will quickly provide Ukraine with $50 billion. You are all aware of the details. This is a completely workable plan. And this is money that should work to support both defense and reconstruction. We also need to create a working mechanism for confiscating Russia's $300 billion in frozen assets - we need to teach the states that support terror that they will pay for it.

And fifth, the Peace Summit.

The day after tomorrow, we can take a real step towards a just peace for our country and for the whole of Europe - the inaugural Peace Summit will take place, and I thank you all for your support of the Summit and our Peace Formula. You all know that at the first Summit we will focus on three points of the Formula: nuclear security, food security, and the release of prisoners and deportees. Perhaps the Summit will also be a step towards broader energy security - we need to make it impossible for Russia to attack our territory, and we have ideas on how to ensure this. I hope for your support in implementing the steps that have been developed. And I also hope that the unity between the partners will continue on June 25, when we expect the negotiation framework with the EU to be adopted.

Thank you for your attention! Once again, I thank you for your support and for the fact that the Group of Seven has been consistently effective in helping Ukraine and dedicating its meetings to the topic of our defense in this war.

Thank you.

Author - Ihor Lontkivskyi 13.06.24