President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who was on a European mini-tour on Wednesday and Thursday, during which he visited London, Paris and Brussels, where he had the opportunity to meet with all the leaders of the 27 EU countries, on Friday informed Ukrainians that he received “very important agreements ” and received “good signals” about “new defense options” that Ukraine has, but regarding fighter jets, he admitted that “there is still work” that can be done, News.ro notes.

“In a certain sense, it was a very difficult week, but certainly a very significant one,” Zelensky said in a video message on Friday evening.

“A new meeting of the General Staff was held today. The situation on the front line was examined in detail, especially in the Donetsk-Bakhmut region and other hot spots. These are difficult areas. At the meeting of the General Staff, we analyzed the situation with the provision of weapons, the general situation with the defense of the state,” said the Ukrainian president.

He said that Kyiv is already preparing for a new meeting in the form of Ramstein, a defense contact group of countries that help Ukraine. “We talked about this, about new defense options that we, together with our partners, should open for Ukraine,” Zelenskyi said.

Then he remembered his diplomatic marathon. Armament became the main topic of discussion: “London, Paris, Brussels – everywhere these days we talked about how to strengthen our troops. There are very important agreements, and we received good signals,” Zelenskyy said. “This concerns both long-range missiles and tanks, as well as the next level of our cooperation – fighter jets,” Zelenskyy added. “But it still needs work,” he admitted, referring to the planes.

“I was very pleased to hear and see that our guys in the UK are quickly learning to drive Challenger tanks. I was very glad to see the British eager for our victory. All this inspires us. I am grateful to the Prime Minister, the British Parliament and all the British people. And, of course, His Majesty the King,” Zelenskyi continued.

About the meeting with Macron and Scholz: “We spoke honestly and heard each other”

He also mentioned a meeting in France with President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. If regarding the French leader, he stated in a recent interview that he had “changed” his attitude towards Russia, then regarding Olaf Scholz in another interview, he said that he had to make constant efforts to convince him to help Ukraine, and that he had relations with Berlin “with ups and downs”.

“A meeting of principle was held in France with President Macron and Chancellor Scholz. The three of us talked, and it was a frank conversation. It would be incorrect to disclose its details, but we can say that we heard each other. France – Ukraine, Germany – Ukraine. Partners have heard our position, our arguments. There will be more support and I thank the President and all the French, the Chancellor and all the Germans for that. It is felt that there is an understanding that protecting Ukraine means protecting our interests and partners,” Zelenskyy said.

He also said that in Brussels he held negotiations with EU leaders not only within the framework of the European Council, but also during special meetings that took place after the summit. “I generally met with all the leaders of the European Union. And now our joint task is to translate everything that we discussed and agreed upon into concrete results, into concrete documents and into new concrete directions of cooperation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyi said.​

___

• Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro