President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he discussed the upcoming G7 summit with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and thanked Ukrainian troops fiercely fighting near Bakhmut in Donetsk Region, which the Russian constant shelling turned into yet another destroyed Donbas city.
The following is the full text of his evening speech published on the presidential website:
" Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!
I had an important conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today. We coordinated our positions ahead of the summit next week. In fact, this will be the final G7 summit this year, and it will determine the priorities for the next year. We are preparing as many as possible solutions that our countries need – for Ukraine and for the G7 states.
I also thanked Mr. Prime Minister and the entire United Kingdom for the constant support of our state. They discussed the situation on the front line and winter prospects on the battlefield.
The front-line situation remains very difficult in the key areas of Donbas – Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna... For a long time, there is no living place left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins.
I thank all our heroes, all soldiers and commanders who hold the front in these directions, repulse attacks and inflict significant losses on the enemy in response to the hell that entered Ukraine under the Russian flag.
Today, a conference was held in Kyiv, which continued the line of events in our country and in Europe that took place this week and last week, during which we work out solutions for the sake of justice, for the sake of holding Russia accountable, and for the sake of finding formats for the release of our people, who are held captive by the occupiers.
We feel support from both states and international organizations and human rights institutions. We hope to be able to announce specific details in the near future.
By the way, the results of the visit of the First Lady of Ukraine to London and her speech in the British Parliament were discussed with the British Prime Minister. On behalf of our country, Olena proposed that the United Kingdom shows leadership in the issue of justice – in the creation of a special tribunal to try the crime of Russian aggression. This is one of the points of the Ukrainian peace formula, and it is very important for me to see now in international communication that global leaders have really heard Ukrainian peace proposals.
Let me remind you that the peace formula consists of ten points – from nuclear security to the restoration of the territorial integrity of our state, from energy security to the return of all prisoners of war and deportees held on the territory of Russia. This is now one of the key tasks for our state – to involve the world in concrete implementation of the points of the peace formula. We must return the Ukrainian flag to all cities and communities of Ukraine, we must ensure the real responsibility of the terrorist state for this war, and we must guarantee the safety of all generations of Ukrainians after the end of this war.
Every day of the heroic resistance of our Defense Forces and all our people brings closer the day when the entire Ukraine will finally experience victory, victory and peace. Real, reliable.
Today, I presented the Ukrainian vision of steps towards peace at the TRT World Forum in Istanbul. There I focused on food security – on Ukrainian initiatives that add global weight to our state. This is the grain export initiative and the Grain from Ukraine initiative.
Using these transparent and useful examples for our people, for the Black Sea region and for the entire global community, we show that it is quite possible to restore security. The main thing is determination. I am sure that Mr. President Erdoğan, who was at the forum, heard our position.
We are already preparing for a very important next week – there will be important international events. I held relevant meetings today. I believe: there will be powerful decisions for our country.
Glory to everyone who fights for Ukraine!
Thanks to everyone who works for our people!
Eternal memory to all those who gave their lives for independence!
Glory to Ukraine!"