It’s Essential That When We Negotiate With Russia, the Strongest Defenders of Freedom Are at the Table – America, Europe, and Ukraine – Speech by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 Leaders’ Session
24 February 2025
Dear leaders, dear guests, dear representatives of nations whose freedom gives the world hope,
I’m grateful to you for being here today. Thank you so much. And we stand together, and some of you are even here in Kyiv. And, of course, I’m happy to see everybody online. Thank you for your support. Thank you that you stay with us and, of course, again and again I invite all of you to Ukraine.
On February 24th, 2022 – the day Russia launched its unprovoked and absolutely unjust war against us, our people, our families, against Ukraine, – our independence and even our people could have been wiped out. But Ukrainians are braver than Putin’s greed. The world’s unity is stronger than the alliance of Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other enemies of life. People’s belief in good is stronger than fear of evil. That’s why Ukraine is still standing today.
For Russia, this war is pure madness – a senseless destruction of life. And even today, while 13 leaders and EU representatives are here in Kyiv, in our capital, Russia keeps bombing us even today. But for Ukraine, for Europe, for the free world, this war has deep meaning – it is a fight for independence, the kind that many nations have gone through. Those who fight – survive. Those who surrender – are erased by history. And we, Ukrainians, exist – and we always will. And I am grateful to your nations for standing with us, with Ukraine, standing with our people. The American people have helped us. The British. The French. The Germans. The Italians. The Japanese. The Canadians. Thank you. Thank you very much. I also want to highlight the strength of the EU – Putin never believed in it, but the EU will outlast him and his madness. We’ll do everything we can to help Europe grow stronger. And today, a new EU sanctions package was introduced – thank you so much – it’s real proof of Europe’s strength.
Dear leaders,
Today, the 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump, joined us. We all know his strength, and we hope, Mr. President, that it will help make “peace through strength” a reality – a peace based on security guarantees from America, from Europe, and all who can protect – military, economic, and political security guarantees. From the very start of this war, we have wanted peace and now more than ever we believe that real and lasting peace is possible – if we stand together, of course. And it’s essential that we work together so that when we negotiate with Russia, the strongest defenders of freedom are at the table – America, Europe, and Ukraine. This is where a real peace deal can happen, not just to stop the killing now, but to prevent the deaths of thousands of our people in Russian captivity, in occupied areas, and from future attacks.
Next,
Most of you were at the NATO Summit in the U.S. It was an important step in our relations. We discussed how Russia, like a hungry shark, keeps attacking Ukraine only because we remain outside NATO. If we had that protective shield – the NATO border – Putin would never have dared to push his evil across the border of our country. And after three years of full-scale war, you all see how much strength Ukraine can bring to the Alliance – and this is immediate strength, right now, not decades from now. At the NATO Summit, we were promised air defense systems to protect our people from Russian missiles and bombs as compensation for the lack of a NATO invitation for Ukraine, and that was an important promise. But we still haven’t received all of them. This is just one example.
And if Ukraine remains outside NATO, it will be a much more expensive and complicated path for everyone because NATO provides the simplest and most cost-effective security guarantees. In that case, Ukraine will need more air defense systems, more financial support, and a strong military presence to keep Russia in check. So we must choose the right path – the fastest and most cost-effective one – and this should be our path, not what Putin has imposed on everyone. Security guarantees are needed for peace to prevail.
Next,
The world is changing fast – in military, in diplomacy, in economics, in everything. And we must keep up, of course. And we need to meet as soon as possible to define the terms of peace and security guarantees. Our teams are already working productively with the U.S. on the economic agreement, which we hope to sign in Washington. And, President Trump, we would really like to hear from you because all our people, all our families are very worried – will there be support from America? Will America be the leader of the free world? And I want to be very honest, very honest with you… For our people, for life in general, it is so important that American support, American assistance remains. And really, I believe we can be just as effective in securing real guarantees for peace. But for this, we need at least everyone affected by this war – this means all of Europe, America, and, of course, Ukraine. Putin is at his weakest when we are united and at our strongest. This is what the negotiation table should look like, and I hope we reach it as soon as possible – not because of mistakes, but through goodwill.
And finally,
We need to modernize our armies. Armies from the 20th century are no longer enough. Today, Ukrainians, our partners have gained the most advanced wartime experience. And we must use it to protect freedom, and we can do it, do it together. And let’s set up a coordination mechanism to make this work. When I talked about Europe’s Armed Forces, this is exactly what I meant, so we can use what we are learning, and what we’ve already learned and share it with our partners, with all our allies. Unity and cooperation benefit all of us.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Justin. Thanks, partners, for everything, that you are with us. And let’s make sure our decisions truly work – for decades. Thank you again.
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