Dear guests of the summit, dear friends of Ukraine!

Dear representatives of our Ukrainian communities, dear government officials!

I am glad to see everyone and glad that this format we have with you – the Summit of Cities and Regions – is alive.

During the full-scale war, we created various formats – it is true – of interaction with our partners. And this format of horizontal interaction – between communities and cities, between regional authorities and with the participation of government officials – is one of the most indicative. A format that demonstrates very clearly how life in Europe is organized and why our defense in the war has gained such broad, such global support. We have never relied only on relations between the leaders of countries and only on the opinions and decisions of this level of leaders. It has always been very important for us what societies think – societies think about what is happening, and whether ordinary people feel what we are fighting for in a broad sense, whether they feel what we are fighting for here, in Ukraine, and what threatens others if Ukraine does not hold out. And this feeling of a common threat and a common task to protect life and our European choice, the European way of life - this feeling united both the leaders of the countries and many other political leaders in the partner countries, public leaders, the business community, media people and cultural figures. And most importantly - the thoughts of millions of people in different countries, in different parts of the world, but above all in Europe, were and are with us, because this is Russia's war in Europe against Ukraine and against Europe. The thoughts of millions of people were and are with us, who from the first minutes of this Russian aggression felt all its injustice and impudence and decided that Russia must be stopped. It was this decision of the people that became the basis for many decisions of the leaders of countries, parliaments, businesses to support Ukraine, our defense, our people. And this is one of the key components of how we manage to protect our cities and villages, our lives, and our independence despite everything. Namely, thanks to the commonality of our feelings with many people around the world, and specifically European countries, who value their freedom and independence and that is why they help us defend the freedom and independence of Ukraine.

Today, at the summit, representatives of many countries, partner, friendly countries, representatives of Poland, France, Austria, Romania, Norway, Germany, Portugal, Italy, our Baltic friends - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, Hungary - today the mayor of Budapest, the capital, is here, and I hope that we will definitely normalize relations between our countries. I am sure of this. This is very important for everyone in our region, and we see it - in Europe as a whole. Representatives of Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia are also here with us now. For the first time in our format - representatives of Belarus. And recently Lukashenko said that it is time for the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus to meet. It turned out so interesting: Lukashenko said, and Svitlana Tikhanovskaya arrived. Glad to see you, Svitlana. We also have our friends - representatives of Belgium, Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Slovenia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Switzerland. So many friends. I want all of Ukraine to applaud our partners who are here today. Thank you.

Most of you understand and feel absolutely clearly what the phrase “For our freedom and yours” means. This is how we are now defending ourselves at home, in Ukraine, this is how the freedom and independence of many others in our Europe were protected, this is how the entire free world lives – thanks to the willingness of others to come to the aid of the defense of the one against whom unjust strikes and wars of aggression are being launched.

I thank you for doing everything in your communities to ensure that freedom is strong and that ties with communities in other countries are also strong. Thank you for all the support for Ukraine and our people – both here in Ukraine and for those Ukrainians who have found refuge in your communities. Now each of us understands that Russian madness has not become less. They are again threatening us with strikes, they again do not want real diplomacy, they are trying to drag Belarus even further into the war and are threatening the Baltic states, Finland, Moldova, and Poland.

We must continue to be resilient, very strong, and remember that a lot depends on our decisions, on the unity of our feelings today. Now it is important to continue to convey to all political leaders that air defense for Ukraine is the number one priority. It is important to continue to work together on the resilience of our Ukrainian communities, and therefore, on the experience of resilience, which will be useful to communities in your countries. I am grateful to Gdansk and Poland for the meaningful preparation for this June of the URC format - the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine. And it is important that the meetings in Gdansk yield real results for reconstruction here, in Ukraine, and the involvement of European business in relations with Ukraine, with Ukrainian business. Our communities will also be widely represented at the conference, and I hope that you will all join us.

An important element today is the initiative of our regions – Ukraine and our part of Europe – the Carpathian Integration Initiative. We are currently developing this format and preparing an international forum of the Carpathian macroregion. I am grateful to each participant for their joint work so that this format of ours can also be and become effective.

And please remember: everything depends on people. It is extremely helpful for Ukraine to feel that we are not alone in our defense. People in your countries and in ours, in Ukraine, must continue to feel that evil will not win. And we will continue to be very grateful to you for every project, a joint project, for every strong decision, for every important step that will help our defense, the protection of our cities and villages from Russian shelling, for your participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine. Please continue to be effective. The fate of our and your freedom is determined here, in Ukraine, in this war, in which system wins here - ours and yours, the European one or the Moscow one. We must definitely protect our independence and our people, our Ukraine, and therefore our Europe.

Glory to Ukraine!