President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Ukrainians on Monday evening about the symbolic, but also pragmatic significance of the historic visit they had during the day to Kyiv – the visit of American President Joe Biden, he emphasized, three days to a year after the Russian invasion, that victory must be achieved on this second year of the war and that not only the fate of the country is at stake, but also the entire world order.

“Today was a symbolic day. It is the 362nd day of a large-scale war, and we, in our free capital, in our free country, are being received by our powerful ally, the president of the United States of America, and we are talking with him about the future of Ukraine. , about our relations, about the whole of Europe and about global democracy. This is an indicator of how stable Ukraine is and how important it is to the world,” said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in his address, which, like every evening, concluded the day, News.ro reports.

“Now in Ukraine, the fate of the world order, which is based on rules, humanity, and predictability, is being decided. And today President Biden and I talked, in particular, about how to do everything to ensure our joint victory in the war started by Russia this year,” said the Ukrainian president.

“Resolved nine years ago. The full-scale war has been going on since last February. We must do everything to stop Russian aggression this year, liberate our occupied territories and guarantee reliable security for our country and for all the peoples of Europe who want to live in freedom and peace,” Zelenskyi said.

He noted that specific steps in this regard are known, as well as the defense needs of the Ukrainians, and made it clear that offensive plans are already being developed, taking into account the necessary armaments. “The active actions necessary for this – primarily the actions of our fighters on the front lines – are also well known to our partners. We just need determination,” Zelenskyy said, alluding to the hesitation that Kyiv faces from its partners every time it makes a request for new weapons.

Zelensky: “Our alliance with America really strengthens the world”

However, he showed that there was no more hesitation in Joe Biden’s case. “Today we saw such determination on the part of President Biden and the United States of America. And I want to thank Mr. President for this visit and for the discussions – really useful discussions – that actually continued the conversation that we started in Washington during my visit in December. We are working on providing ranged weapons and other weapons that were not previously included in support packs. And I am grateful for another package that will certainly strengthen our guys on the front lines,” Zelensky said, referring to the new military support package worth nearly half a billion dollars announced by Joe Biden in Kyiv.

To ensure the approval of this support package, Zelensky wanted to thank members of Congress, emphasizing that this is bipartisan assistance. “I am grateful on behalf of all Ukrainians, all Americans – ordinary people and public leaders, members of Congress from both parties and all members of President Biden’s team – for bringing our relations – between Ukraine and America – to a very significant historical level. . We can be called true allies, and our alliance with America really strengthens the world,” Zelensky said.

He said that this week Kyiv will continue diplomatic activity with representatives of the USA, and there will also be “significant changes” in relations with other partners of Ukraine, both in Europe and around the world.

Zelensky: “This was the year of our invincibility”

Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv coincided with commemoration of the victims of the 2014 Euromaidan, which eventually led to the removal of the pro-Russian president who was in power at the time and the country’s orientation towards a democratic, pro-Western course. On Monday, Joe Biden visited the memorial dedicated to these Ukrainian heroes.

“The ninth commemoration of the most terrible days of the Maidan, the commemoration of the beginning of Russian aggression against our country, when there was very little time left before the occupation of our Crimea. And now, nine years later, we are more confident than ever that justice will be served,” Zelenskyy said. “The aggressor state, which confidently went towards the terrorist state, will be responsible for its crimes. He will be responsible for the efforts of Ukraine and all our partners, the entire free world and all those who are currently helping us defend our independence, freedom and international legal order. We will win in this historic confrontation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyi said.

On Thursday, Biden came to Kyiv six more times, but then he was the vice president, and Volodymyr Zelenskyi recalled another significant moment that predicted the role of Ukrainians as defenders of the idea of ​​freedom: “When the president is Biden, then the vice president. – addressed the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine in December 2015, emphasized a very important point: without exaggeration, we can say that the hopes of all freedom-loving people around the world rest on us, Ukrainians, because a lot depends on them. the success of our fragile experiment with democracy. For our country, for all of Europe – free and peaceful. For the whole world, where democracy is under threat. Now we are absolutely sure that nothing can undermine our democracy. No element of Ukrainian life is fragile anymore and will never be fragile. And our stability is a significant contribution to the stability of all freedom-loving nations of the world,” Zelensky emphasized.

“It was a year of full-scale war, a year of our invincibility, which was the answer to the Kremlin’s illusion of “three days to Kyiv”… A year!” – Zelensky emphasized, showing that this week, when one year of the war passes, the merits of Ukrainians are recognized all over the world.

Zelenskyi also talked about another important meeting that took place on Monday in Kyiv – with the Director General of the IMF, after which he has a positive conclusion.

“I was very pleased to hear a positive assessment of the resistance of our institutions, the efficiency and effectiveness of our country in the face of such brutal and total aggression. There are situations when states collapse even under much easier conditions. The Ukrainian state overcame terrible tests and retained its full functionality. This is another achievement of our people – all those who work for the state. An achievement that deserves to be appreciated right now – in these days, on the eve of the anniversary of the invasion. Ukrainians are capable of very important things, and every day we see new confirmations of this,” said the Ukrainian president.

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