Zelensky: Ukraine and partners must have clear response to Russian operations

Ukraine clearly understands what Russia is preparing for, so the country and all of its partners must have a clear response to Russian operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a new video address to Ukrainians, Ukrinform reports.

Ukrinform provides the full text of the president's address:

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

There is a new security agreement for our country. This is the eighth one – now with Finland. Today we signed it in Kyiv during the visit of the new President of Finland. He arrived together with the Speaker of the Parliament, and this is the first time such a joint visit has been made, moreover, the first visit of the new President has been made specifically to Ukraine. It is very symbolic, and we appreciate this symbolic support. Just as we appreciate all the practical support provided by Finland for our defense and our people. Today we have a new package of defense support. We talked in great detail about the need to bolster air defense. We also talked about defense production – about joint projects on weapons, on shells. This is where our countries can do much more together. And we have agreed today that the teams of our countries will work together as actively as before.

It is important to say that Finland clearly understands the necessity of Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO. I thank you for your willingness to help, to provide arguments in favor of an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO. In general, we can say that the entire Finnish society, all political forces equally understand the importance of our defense in this war for our entire region, for the whole of Europe. And we must not waste time, we must interact more, do more together, and convince other partners to be more active. It's all about our common security, about protecting millions of people from Russian murderers.

I also had several phone calls today. The first was with Prime Minister Kishida. I thanked him for the comprehensive assistance provided both for our security and for our economic resilience. And for the political support. Japan is among the global leaders in assisting Ukraine and upholding international law. I briefed Mr. Prime Minister on the situation on the battlefield, its prospects, and our needs, including everything that would help us repel Russian attacks. It was a fruitful conversation. And after the recent decisions of the Japanese government, Japan's total support for Ukraine has already exceeded $12 billion.

Today I also spoke with the new Prime Minister of Portugal. We coordinated our work and, in particular, instructed our teams to start preparing a security agreement between our countries. Of course, we will continue to implement the existing agreements.

We are gradually planning our work with our partners for the coming months – both May and June should be a time of activity for the sake of Ukraine, for the sake of achieving our goals in this war. We clearly understand what Russia is preparing for, what they want, and what they will be drafting soldiers into their army for. And we, all of us, our partners, must have a strong response to Russian operations – any Russian operations. We must win this war. This is Ukraine's historic chance to thwart Russian revanchism, and we must seize it. For the sake of reliable security for our children.

Today, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi delivered a long and detailed report. Our actions in key directions. Defense of our positions. Fortification of our positions. Our pressure on Russian positions. Our key plans for defense and active operations in the near future.

I thank everyone who is fighting on the frontline now, who is in combat positions and on combat missions. I thank everyone who trains our warriors, everyone who volunteers. I am proud of our people. And I thank everyone in the world who helps.

Glory to Ukraine!