Statement by the President of Ukraine at the Joint Press Point with the President of the European Commission
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
17 August 2025 – 17:28
Dear Ursula, thank you for your support, thank you for this day – it’s very important, for all your support from the very beginning of this war. It’s very important that you’re with us, and that we speak to America, and we speak together. And it’s important that Washington is with us. And today, in several formats, we’re deciding what we’re going to discuss in Washington.
Dear journalists, it’s crucial that Europe is as united now as it was at the very beginning, as it was in 2022 when the full-scale war began. This unity really helps to reach real peace, and it must stay strong.
First. We have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands but we do not know all of them. If there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It is impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it’s necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We’ll talk about it in Washington. Putin does not want to stop the killing. But he must do it.
Second. We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now. The contact line is the best line for talking. And Europeans support this, and we thank everyone. Russia is still unsuccessful in the Donetsk region, Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years. And the Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral – Ukraine, United States, Russia. So far, Russia gives no sign the trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.
Third. It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine – and we are very thankful to the United States and to the President for such a signal – and therefore for everyone in Europe. This is a significant change. But there are no details how it will work – what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be, what the EU can do. And this is our main task. We need security to work in practice, like Article 5 of NATO.
And we consider EU accession to be part of security guarantees. And we have heard from President Trump that America and Putin see it the same way. So we talked about the EU accession negotiations. There can be no division between Ukraine and Moldova – that would simply be a very bad move, to my mind. If such a division takes place, it will automatically mean that Europe is divided on Ukraine, that Europe does not have a common and strong position on guarantees. Many in Europe see that division will only make things worse.
We talked about defense – and thank you very much, dear Ursula. We agreed to work more actively on programs such as SAFE. And I count on the support with drones, first of all – this is the priority.
Next. Thank you for the 18th package of sanctions. It is important. We need to prepare the 19th package so that Russia sees that we are serious. We understand Russia’s strategic direction – it is anti-European, and so we must continue to limit Russia’s potential.
Finally. We talked about the support for Ukrainian children in schools. We have a school meal program, and it is an important program that ensures that children from every family in wartime at least receive security, and receive a normal hot meal. The school year is coming soon. And I asked Ursula to help us improve this program. It’s our children, it’s our future – everything is for them.
Thank you!