Dear Ukrainians!

Today, the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapaty, took office – changes have already taken place. Together with Mykhailo and Yevhen Khmara, they determined that Ihor Skybyuk will become the new Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the decision has already been made. The guys are combat-ready, experienced. The troops know them – Drapaty, Khmara, Skybyuk.

We agreed that the modernization of the Ukrainian Defense Forces will be prepared. It is important that everything goes absolutely smoothly and that the Russians do not get a single loophole or opportunity. Russia must feel the growing pressure, the growing sanctions: these are our long-range sanctions, and middle strikes, and our strong positions on the front. All this will be ensured.

We have also identified the tasks that are in the defense of Ukraine, in the implementation of our operations. Air defense is a task. Counteracting Russian strikes is a task. More technologically advanced our defense, fulfilling the requests of the commanders of combat corps and brigades, active defense in all areas are tasks. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine definitely has the ability to ensure the implementation of these tasks with the support and coordination with the new command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our intelligence, our special services, the National Guard of Ukraine and its corps. And necessarily in clear cooperation with our partners and weapons manufacturers, based on complete transparency and trust.

I want to thank everyone in Ukraine today – all the military, all the civilians – for their trust in the new military command. It is important that such trust translates into greater motivation for our defenders, it is important that the guys are strong, justify the trust that society has now demonstrated. We are providing all the tools.

Today, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker was in Kyiv together with the Commander of the NATO Special Mission for Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, Lieutenant General Buzzard. A good meeting. We talked about "Patriots" for us, for Ukraine: we need missiles to protect the lives of our people - there cannot be a shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, as it is now, these months, it is very difficult. It is important that partners help. This is exactly what we talked about with Whitaker today: licenses, missiles and all this is needed. I ask, we need it faster and we need more, to be honest. We talked about the Drone Deal with America, which our teams are currently working on. This will definitely be a new level of cooperation with America. I thank everyone who supports us.

We just spoke together with Rustem Umerov, Kirill Budanov, Sergey Kislytsia with representatives of the President of America Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner. The diplomatic track, the diplomatic process for us continues every day. We do not stop in our efforts to stop this war, the main thing is that the Russians are really ready to stop the war.

Now, of course, the situation on the front, the situation with our long-range sanctions, with middle strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin - a very toxic atmosphere. He alone is the reason that the war began and does not end. Putin alone is the reason for the losses that the Russians are suffering. His entourage understands this, signals to us, signals to our partners. Russian society is increasingly beginning to feel this. Solutions are needed so that there is peace. Ukraine has been ready for this for a long time, now we are doing everything to ensure that the end of this war is dignified.

I thank each of our soldiers, each unit for their accuracy. I thank all of our developers, weapons manufacturers. I thank all of our people for their resilience and faith in Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!