On Friday, September 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the participants of the XX annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES).
Among other things, he recalled Russiaʼs recent strikes on the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross in the Donetsk region, which killed three employees of the organization, as well as on a ship with wheat in the Black Sea.
"It is very unfortunate to see that the Red Cross in its official communication was afraid to even say that it was a Russian strike. This is our life. But this is their face," Zelensky noted.
According to him, there was no reaction from Egypt, where the bulker with grain was headed.
"A Russian missile hit a civilian ship in the Black Sea. It was a bulk carrier with a load of wheat. The destination port is in Egypt. And there was no reaction from Egypt, although it is their food security," the president added.
Ukraine needs Patriots, and the Armed Forces need reinforcements
He noted that very important meetings with partners took place these days. In particular, representatives of the USA and Great Britain came to Ukraine. He once again reminded that Ukraine needs to strengthen air defense to protect the civilian population, and in particular Patriot systems.
"We need air defense, first of all Patriot, of which there are enough in the world and which we have long expected from our partners. And when you tell your partners at meetings: ʼWe need air defense,ʼ itʼs hard to hear the answer every time: ʼWeʼre working on it.ʼ Russian missiles and attack drones provided by Iran are, unfortunately, also working at this time — in our skies and against our people," Zelensky emphasized.
The president also reminded that the Armed Forces need reinforcements. Namely, manned and combat-ready units.
"We have been talking with our partners for months about this — about the staffing of our brigades... But, to be honest, we are still far from fully implementing what we agreed on a long time ago," he said.
Long range can change the course of a war
Zelensky also reminded that Ukraine needs permission to strike deep into Russia with Western weapons.
"Anyone who simply sees on the map from where Russia strikes every day, where Russia prepares forces, where Russia keeps reserves, where it locates military facilities and what logistics it uses, obviously understands what long-range Ukraine is for. We talked about it in detail with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who were recently in Kyiv. I hope that after our conversation, there can be no more unanswered questions about why Ukraine needs sufficient long-range capability," the president said.
He emphasized that Ukraine needs long-range capability, "enough to change the course of the war and force Russia to seek peace."
"So far, only Belarus has distinguished itself by shooting down the Russian Shahed"
The president also reminded that new missiles have arrived in Russia from Iran, which the allies are jointly shooting down in the skies of the Middle East.
"So why is there still no similar decision on the joint shooting down of Russian and Iranian Shahed missiles in the sky of Ukraine? So far, only Belarus has distinguished itself by shooting down the Russian Shahed," Zelensky said.
The partners know all the strategically important points of the Russian Federation. All this can be destroyed in three months
Zelensky also added that the partners know all the points where Russia is gathering forces for strikes and know where Russian air defense is located, where Russian missile launchers are deployed and which logistics routes are critical for the Russian occupation contingent.
"All this can be destroyed in a matter of months. The war has been going on for 10 years, the full-scale war has been going on for almost three years," the president emphasized.
He added that weapons logistics in Russia and sites for Russian strikes are still out of reach for Ukrainian defenders.
"We have effective drones. But drones cannot do everything that rockets are supposed to do," Zelensky explained.
A plan to win
He noted that he has a scheduled meeting with US President Joe Biden this month, during which he will present him with a "victory plan." According to Zelensky, this will be a system of interrelated decisions, thanks to which Ukraine will gain sufficient strength to "put this war on a course for peace."