FOREIGN MINISTER SYBIHA: (Via interpreter) Minister, please. I am glad to greet in Kyiv my American and my British colleagues. This is the first meeting in my new position of minister of foreign affairs with Antony and David. This is the excellent format we had to a wonderful atmosphere - very productive talks, not just on the premises of the ministry of foreign affairs and also in the wings. And there were - there was a meeting with the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as real allies. We had that meeting.
We are grateful to the U.S. and the UK for their unwavering support rendered to Ukraine, its territorial integrity, and sovereignty. That was a very busy day for both our guests and our state. It's very important that Antony and David participate in the fourth summit of the Crimean Platform. It's today. It started today. It's to be continued. Fair and sustainable peace is impossible without restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and that includes the Crimea. Crimea is Ukraine.
Today on the 11th of September, we have a tragic anniversary for the American, U.S. people - the 23rd anniversary of terrible terrorist attacks against the U.S. I offered my condolences to the state - Secretary of State and through him to all the nation. We know the price of human life, and we know how loss hurts.
The principal topic we discussed was military capability and their reinforcement - air defense, F-16s, munition, drones, armored vehicles, and other equipment - everything that can work for victory.
And specifically I emphasized the necessity to make investment to buy military systems for the defenders of Ukraine that will support our defense industry and see the resources provided by our allies. The key mission is to strengthen the (inaudible) with all the necessary contributions. We have to remove all the obstacles and limitations with the use of British equipment, American equipment in the territory of Russia against military targets. We need also more decisiveness in downing Russian rockets, missiles, and drones over the territory of Ukraine. That will provide for sustainable peace and strong position of Ukraine.
The ballistic missiles provided by Iran to Russia was another issue. Enemies of the free world have no doubts; they provide unacceptable threats for Europe and Middle East. And under such conditions, we should not have any difference within the ranks of democracy. We have to be courageous and we have to be decisive. We have to increase sanctions against Russia and block all the loopholes and stop access Russia to any kind of resources to continue this war. The frozen assets should be used for support of Ukraine. Russia should pay. International rule provides all the grounds for the use, not just income and interests, but the assets themselves. We call upon our partners for decisive action.
We discussed economic resilience and energy security of Ukraine. We are grateful to the U.S. and the UK for the support of our energy sector, and for our colleagues on engagement of munition with chemical components and their use against our soldiers, and the necessity to have very severe collective action and clean response to that.
We discussed the second peace summit. We have relied upon the support of the U.S. and British diplomacy in expanding the coalition for a peace formula and the number of signatories. The peace formula has no alternative. We discussed specifically further integration of Ukraine, and accession to NATO. This is a priority and this is our steady course. We are approaching accession and membership of - in NATO for Ukraine is the necessary precondition for a sustainable and steady peace in Europe.
In closing, I would like to say that we observed a high awareness among our partners and their recognition of the fact that peace and victory in Ukraine are part and parcel (inaudible) of the future of Europe and all the world. This has been a very busy day. Now, I'm turning it over to Antony Blinken.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, Andrii, thank you very, very much; and thank you for your hospitality today but also thank you for the very good work we've been able to do today.
I was very pleased as well with David Lammy to be able to spend time with President Zelenskyy and other colleagues. And the foreign secretary and I came to Ukraine today to really hear from our partners how we can continue to work together to help Ukraine defend its people, defend its territory through the fall fighting season into the winter as Putin continues his vicious war of aggression, and also how to continue to set up Ukraine for success as a strong, independent country for the long term.
We're going to take what we learned back to President Biden in my case, and the prime minister in David's case. The two of them will meet in just a few days' time in Washington to discuss how our countries will continue to support Ukraine. And we'll also use what we learned to further rally support among many countries that are behind Ukraine. We'll be at the UN General Assembly in just a couple of weeks' time. We'll be meeting with many allies and partners as well who are in NATO, the G7, the compact of states that have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. All of this is happening in the coming weeks.
It's important that the Ukrainian people continue to hear directly from us: We remain fully committed to Ukraine's victory - to not only ensuring that Ukraine can defend itself today, but can stand on its own feet strongly, militarily, economically, democratically, for many, many days ahead; to securing the path the Ukrainian people have chosen toward greater integration in the Euro-Atlantic community, including the European Union and NATO; to getting a just and lasting peace.
The bottom line is this: We want Ukraine to win. And we're fully committed to keep marshalling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that.
Now, support for Ukraine will endure because it doesn't depend on any one country, any one party, any one election. Here today, the United States, the United Kingdom are united in support of Ukraine and its success. But we're united along with dozens of other countries, including the enduring coalition of more than 50 countries that have provided more than $100 billion in security aid to Ukraine since February of 2022, and continue to materially support Ukraine today.
Our message, our collective message to Putin is clear: Our support will not wane; our unity will not break. Putin will not outlast the coalition of countries committed to Ukraine's success, and he is certainly not going to outlast the Ukrainian people. They've never wavered in their belief that they and they alone will decide their future.
Now, we have challenging moments. This is a challenging moment as well, with an expansion of attacks from Russia pummeling Ukrainian cities, citizens, infrastructure with monstrous brutality. And now Putin is further empowering his aggression with the acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles.
So we're working with urgency to continue to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to effectively defend itself. At the NATO summit back in July, President Biden promised five strategic air defense systems, and dozens of tactical air defense systems. We've delivered on several of those strategic systems; we're fully working to meet the commitment in the coming weeks, and we'll continue to add to Ukraine's air defense systems. We've also supported and trained the F-16 program that is now flying over Ukraine. The United States continues to be the largest provider of security assistance to Ukraine, and to lead the international coalition in support of its defense.
As we're meeting here today, we're again seeing Putin dust off his winter playbook, targeting Ukrainian energy and electricity systems to weaponize the cold against the Ukrainian people. That's why today we're announcing $325 million in new funding to help repair Ukraine's energy and electric grid. And we'll rally additional support from the G7-plus countries when we have a meeting of the Energy Coordination Group in the next couple of weeks.
I'm also announcing today $290 million in new humanitarian support to help provide vital services like safe drinking water, food, shelter, medicine to millions of people in Ukraine and around the region who have been displaced by Putin's war. And finally, we're announcing $102 million in additional funding in humanitarian demining to help remove land mines are unexploded ordnance that Russia's left behind across Ukraine.
Now, support for Ukraine's defense and recovery is not only coming from Ukraine's partners. The United States and our G7 partners agreed to deliver $50 billion from Russia's frozen assets to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction and defense, and we're working to meet that commitment, to operationalize it. And we and our allies will continue to impose costs on countries that support Russia's war machine.
For all of these challenges, Ukraine has made remarkable progress on each of its key goals since I was last here, which was back in May. They've made progress militarily in standing up a strong, enduring capacity to deter and defend against aggression. At the July summit we declared that Ukraine's path to NATO membership is irreversible. And for the first time, NATO established a command dedicated to support Ukraine's membership.
Last time I was here, nine countries had completed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. Now that number is 26 and counting, including of course the United States and the United Kingdom. That will provide a foundation of support for Ukraine's defense for years to come. And Ukraine's defense industrial base has grown sixfold in the last year alone. In the coming years, that's going to give Ukraine one of the most advanced defense industries in the world, and it will be able to take that to the global market and take global market share away from other countries like Russia, and also supply NATO Allies.
Ukraine's making economic progress. We've been taking steps to make it easier for investors and companies to do business here in Ukraine. For example, together with the private sector, we recently announced a first-of-its-kind $350 million war risk reinsurance facility. That's going to make it easier for companies to invest even as the war goes on.
And Ukraine continues to make progress on deepening its democracy. It's taken important steps, including the Rada recently passing a law to reform oversight of financial crimes; expanding the number of judges on the anti-corruption court; delivering prosecutions in high-profile corruption cases.
The active engagement and leadership on the part of Ukraine's engaged and committed civil society has been crucial to this progress. Now, more work needs to be done on reform. Ukraine needs to ensure investors in businesses that they're treated fairly and don't have to compete in a gray market. Ukraine needs institutions that are independent, effective, and free from political interference. That's crucial for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, for its regulatory bodies and the boards of state-owned enterprises, and for the customs legislation that's currently before the Rada.
These and other reforms Ukraine is pursuing because it's in Ukraine's interests to do so. It's what the Ukrainian people want. It's also essential as Ukraine moves down the path to the European Union and to NATO.
The enduring commitment of the Ukrainian people is one of the main reasons that we're confident Ukraine will keep moving forward. No matter how great the obstacles thrown in their way, Ukrainians have demonstrated time and again that nothing can stand in the way of the people committed to shaping their own future.
MODERATOR: Foreign Secretary.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Well, thank you, Andrii, for welcoming me here to Kyiv. And thank you, Tony, for joining me on this important and historic visit. I last visited in May, and I return today at a vital time because we are united in our ironclad support for Ukraine. For two and a half years, you have bravely and fiercely defended yourselves against Russia's full-scale invasion, but as we heard today, Putin's ugly attempts to restore the Russian empire began much earlier with the illegal annexation of Crimea 10 years ago.
Putin claims he wishes to liberate Ukrainian civilians, but he denies the right of their nation to exist. He has sent in tanks and soldiers to enforce his diktat, and he inflicts horrors on Crimea and other regions of Ukraine under the Russian yoke, with stories of forced disappearances, sinister re-education camps, and torture. Putin's barbaric actions are the latest example of a very old and evil story.
One of my ancestors was taken from their home, enslaved, chained on a ship, and forced to work for the profit of a foreign empire. He knew only too well what imperialism was. No act of authoritarianism is ever exactly the same, but 80 years after Stalin deported the Crimean Tatars, 240 years after Catherine the Great annexed Crimea, Putin has revealed the same arrogance, the same greed, the same disdain for the rights of other individuals and nations. This is imperialism; this is fascism. And this week we have been reminded of how other authoritarian regimes are aiding Putin, with Iran going even further in support for Moscow by providing ballistic missiles, a significant and dangerous escalation.
Britain and the U.S. and our partners have responded quickly to Tehran's undermining of global security. Britain has sanctioned Iranian officials and entities as well as Russian entities and cargo ships involved in the transfer of weapons. And together, we've restricted Iran's air flights to Europe. This response is in keeping with our commitment to remain Ukraine's staunchest friend, and I'm proud of that commitment. I'm proud of Prime Minister Starmer's commitment to provide 3 billion in military aid every year that is needed in your fight.
And today I can confirm more than 600 million worth of support for Ukraine, including 242 million this financial year, for immediate humanitarian, energy, and stabilization needs, as well as support for reform, recovery, and reconstruction - plus we're confirming our intention to deploy $484 million worth of World Bank loan guarantees later this year. And the UK is speeding up military deliveries with air defense missiles, equipment of F-16 fighter jets, AS-90 self-propelled guns and spare barrels, military boats, and maritime guns having now been delivered. I can announce we will now also send hundreds of additional air defense missiles, tens of thousands of additional artillery ammunition rounds, and more armored vehicles to Ukraine by the end of the year.
But I am most proud of the unity we and our allies have shown in support for Ukraine, and that is why our joint visit today, the first joint visit of its kind for well over a decade, is such an important signal. Together, Britain and our allies are united in our commitment to Ukraine, to freedom, to victory, because we both recognize what is at stake here: not just the liberty of Ukraine but the security of Europe and the security of the West, and indeed the very principles that underpin the UN Charter on which rests the international order as it stands, which has brought peace and prosperity to so many. It's good to be with you here; it's good to stand with you.
Thank you very much.
MODERATOR: Thank you, excellencies. We'll now take a few questions, starting with Michael Birnbaum from WaPo. I only have one microphone, so —
QUESTION: Thanks very much. Michael Birnbaum from The Washington Post. Mr. Secretary, Mr. Foreign Secretary, a question about ATACMS. How - and long-range missile Storm Shadows - how worried are you at this point about managing escalation with Russia based on your conversations today, and does the Ukrainian desire to use ATACMS, Storm Shadows, long-range missiles against the Kerch bridge that connects Crimea to mainland Russia make sense to you strategically? And what's your personal view of whether Ukraine needs this long-range capability of striking into Russian territory, especially now that, as you say, Iran has facilitated Russia's ability to strike more deeply into Ukraine?
And Mr. Foreign Minister, former President Donald Trump was asked a couple times last night at the debate whether he was committed to Ukrainian victory. He said he wanted the war to end as quickly as possible, but he didn't say yes to victory. I wanted to ask what you made of that and what kind of plans you are making in case there is a change in U.S. policy sometime soon. Thanks a lot.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Michael, thank you very much. I'm happy to - happy to start. First, we had a very good discussion today with the foreign minister, with President Zelenskyy, with his whole team about the situation on the battlefield, Ukraine's objectives, and what it needs to succeed going forward. And among other things, we discussed long-range fires, but a number of other things as well. And as I said at the outset, I'm going to take that discussion back to Washington to brief the President on what I heard. I know that David is doing the same, and both of our bosses know that no doubt will discuss this when they meet later this week, actually. on Friday in Washington.
Just speaking for the United States, from day one, as you heard me say, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we'll continue to do that as this evolves. You referenced escalation. Of course that's one of the factors that we always consider, but it's certainly not the only factor and it's not necessarily a dispositive factor. We have provided, as you know, extraordinary support to Ukraine over these more than two years - not just training, not just money, but among our most sophisticated weapon systems, again tied to what their needs are, tied to what can make them most effective. And I think the track record is there. We're determined to ensure that they have what they need to succeed.
And when it comes to escalation, you made the point yourself we've seen Russia now pursue and indeed escalate its attacks inside Ukraine on civilians, on energy infrastructure, as well as on the Ukrainian military that's defending its country. And we've now seen this action of Russia acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further empower their aggression in Ukraine. So if anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be Mr. Putin and Russia.
I'll leave specific targets and questions for the experts. And of course, I don't have personal views, I have professional views in my capacity as Secretary of State, and I'll be sharing what we've learned on this trip with the President in the coming days.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: The escalator here is Putin. It is Putin who has escalated this week with the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran, and we're seeing this new axis - Russia, Iran, North Kore; we urge China not to throw their lot in with this group of renegades, renegades in the end that are costing lives here in Ukraine. So it's been very important for me to be here with Secretary Blinken to meet, to listen, to learn, to strategize, yes, and to be able to inform the UK prime minister as we head out to Washington for further discussions.
I'm also reminded that as we head into the autumn, we have the UN General Assembly, where we're meeting with allies and parts of global majority countries also to ensure that we have that support for Ukraine as we head into the late autumn and the winter. We have the G20, other forums, and we've wanted to talk about how we build on those opportunities going forward and how we put Ukraine in the best possible position as they head into a winter. And that has been the basis of the discussion.
But let us be clear: We've not just talked about military support. We've talked further about sanctions. We've talked further about the humanitarian needs. We've had a detailed conversation about energy because of horrendous Russian attacks on energy supplies here in Ukraine. So this has been a breadth of conversation across the board about very strong allies and about our commitment. The UK commitment is not just for this winter. We're talking about a hundred-year partnership because we stand with Ukraine for the long haul.
FOREIGN MINISTER SYBIHA: (Via interpreter) I fully agree with the partners' take on the escalation, and let me add on my own part that I remember very well when, before any kind of principal decision for supply of some new type of equipment or new batch of equipment, we would also review the issue of escalation. Still the decisions would be made. We had enough willpower and enough strength in our partners to take such decisions. After the Kursk operation of the Ukrainian military, we can say clearly that we have crossed the line of this fear of escalation.
Now, about possible outcome of the presidential election in the U.S., we will without any doubt have a new president of the United States, but we believe in steadfast support from the U.S. nation, the American nation. We believe strongly into bipartisan support, and we clearly believe and we are convinced that fair, comprehensive, sustainable peace in Ukraine is also a strategic interest for the United States of America. And that will be maintained, because we are here to protect our joint values, common values of democracy, and we believe that strategic democratic leadership of the U.S. is here to stay.
QUESTION: Emma Murphy from ITV News. If I could pose a question to you, Foreign Secretary, and also you, Secretary of State, with regard to President Zelenskyy's comments today. He said that he would like to see a strong decision on the use of long-range missiles into Russia. How confident are you that you can take a message back to your superiors that will convince them of the need for that and get over divisions within your own governments potentially about the risk of escalation?
And also, Mr. Foreign Secretary, could I ask how important it is to Ukraine on the battlefield that the long-range missiles are allowed?
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Well thank you for the question. We've had detailed conversations today with President Zelenskyy. We recognize that Ukraine is on the front line of the fight for freedom, and also that over these last few weeks we've seen a tremendous loss of life of innocent men, women, and children here in Ukraine. And I and the Secretary of State, we dedicate ourselves to supporting Ukraine at this particular time.
President Zelenskyy expressed gratitude and thanks for Britain's 3-billion-a-year commitment that will continue for as long as this fight is needed. He expressed thanks for the milestone of the International Fund for Ukraine - 1 billion that we are committed to. And he's grateful for the new package of military support, ammunition, Brimstone missiles, AS-90 artillery guns that we are providing. We are concerned about the attacks on Ukraine's energy. We are concerned about these glide bombs; we are concerned about the drones. We're very concerned about the escalatory action that we're seeing from Iran particularly. We've looked at the breadth of things today. And as we've said, of course, I go back to Keir Starmer able to assist him with some of the operational detail that we've learned from the Ukrainians today. You wouldn't expect me to go into detail about that at this press conference because I am not prepared to give Putin the advantage. But as the closest of allies, we look forward to discussions we will have not just on Friday but discussions I suspect that will go on over the next few weeks as we head also to the UN General Assembly.
MODERATOR: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Good evening. The public broadcaster of Ukraine - Valeria Pashko. So Minister Sybiha mentioned the Ukrainian path to NATO. So is it possible that Allies are ready to invite Ukraine to join NATO maybe this year? And one more - so the coalition within NATO is being formed to shoot down drones and missiles over Ukraine. Maybe there is a discussion between - I don't know - Great Britain and the U.S. and Germany. And I think the last one - are you ready to invest in Ukrainian production of drones, maybe missiles as well? Thanks a lot.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Just to be clear, the United Kingdom is already investing in Ukrainian production of drones. And what I saw on my last trip to Ukraine was a amazing civilian - what we would call a blitz spirit, evoking the Second World War - ordinary people committed to the war effort here in Ukraine. It's humbling, it's moving to see people doing all they can to prevent this Russian aggression. Britain are supportive of Ukraine's ambitions in relation to NATO and the security guarantees that they necessarily need. And that's why we work very hard with our allies to get that irreversible pathway language into the text that we were able to agree back in July, just as the new labor government came to power. And we will continue, of course, to discuss these things with our allies.
And the other issue, of course, that Secretary Blinken has raised today is the continued need to work with Ukraine on these fundamental reform issues that make its pathway to the European Union and to NATO more achievable in the medium term.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And really just to reiterate what the foreign secretary said, NATO allies came together, made clear that Ukraine's path to NATO is irreversible, and now Ukraine is moving down that path. I mentioned a few moments ago that for the first time in NATO's history, it has stood up a dedicated command whose purpose is to help [Ukraine] move down the path to membership. And that command is up and running, and we have a representative here in Ukraine, so all of that is moving forward. And it's important that as that moves forward, Ukraine continue to move forward on the necessary reforms. But we see that on track and moving forward.
With regards to the defense industrial base, I mentioned as well a moment ago Ukraine's defense industrial base has increased six times over the last couple of years. That's the result of tremendous investment that a number of us have made. I think what's so important about that is that it also sets up Ukraine for the long term. Because one measure of success, one measure of Ukraine's success is going to be its capacity to stand strongly on its own feet militarily as well as economically and democratically.
And militarily, these investments in the defense industrial base, the production of what it needs to defend itself not just today but for many years to come, is the best way to guarantee that there's not a repeat of Russia aggression, that Ukraine has the capacity to deter aggression and, if necessary, to defend against it. We're also taking steps besides making direct investments ourselves, as the foreign secretary alluded to. We're also trying to make it easier for the private sector to do more in Ukraine even in the midst of the Russian aggression. Some of the risk insurance is critical to that, and we've set up a facility to do that. I think companies around the world see Ukraine as a very attractive place for investment, even with the ongoing aggression, because of Ukrainian capacity - and that includes the defense industrial base.
Deputy Secretary of State Verma was just here a few days ago bringing members of the American private sector with him, including from the defense industry, and we expect things to come out of that.
So all of this is moving forward. And again, I just want to emphasize there are two goals in mind: make sure that Ukraine has what it needs now to deal with the ongoing Russian aggression, but also make sure that it has what it needs to have an enduring success, to be a strong, independent country, increasingly integrated with the institutions of the Euro-Atlantic community, including the European Union and including NATO.
FOREIGN MINISTER SYBIHA: (Via interpreter) I would like to commend your question. As to the necessity to shoot down Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine, we already have some incidents of a violation of airspace of neighboring countries by Russia, NATO countries, and we think that Russia, by doing that, is testing the decisiveness and unity of NATO. That's why we need to have this firm answer of the Allies to such a provocative and escalation by Russia, who are - more often target the targets close to the border with NATO, the targets close to the nuclear power stations in Ukraine, and they also target our underground storages, which are close to the western borders of Ukraine.
Our security agreement signed by Zelenskyy and Tusk, there was a paragraph saying that practical phase of consultations among allies about shooting down missiles over Ukraine - we think this would be a good and right step towards that. Today I had conversation with the general secretary of NATO, and I thanked him for his position as to this issue.
Secondly, you asked about our path towards NATO and speed to achieve that. I was next to Zelenskyy to - when he was in the bunker after February 24th, and on the second day, President Zelenskyy made a decision to file the petition to join the European Union, just to give you an idea to understand the spirit was in the air. At that time, the Russian troops were right next to Kyiv. We had - we could hear the artillery shooting. But out of strategic considerations, he made a decision. On the fourth day he prepared all the paperwork and we filed that petition, and in four months we achieved that - so having done the home assignment and meeting the requirements.
That's why we need a quick and historical decisions as to bringing Ukraine - as to bringing Ukraine's membership in NATO closer. If there is a political will, we are ready to become NATO member today.
Thank you.
