Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good morning, everyone, and as always, it’s very good to see my friend and colleague Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine.  This is a critical time for Ukraine.  Its people have fought incredibly bravely to defend their country, to recapture territory seized by Russia since February 2022, and, at the same time, to work to build a strong country for the future – a strong country militarily, economically, and democratically.

But in this moment, it is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximize their efforts to provide with – Ukraine what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression.  And in particular for the United States, that means passing the supplemental, the extra budget request that the President has made for Ukraine that we now hope will be before the House this weekend.

And I would just remind the profound stakes that the United States has in Ukraine’s success.  If Putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, we know he won’t stop at Ukraine, and we can safely predict that his aggression will continue.  Other would-be aggressors around the world will take note and unleash their own aggressions, and we will have a world of conflict, not a world of peace and security.

And for the United States, the contributions that we’ve made, that our taxpayers have made so generously, have been more than matched over these past two years by European partners, Asian partners, and others – more than 50 countries around the world supporting Ukraine.  And, of course, virtually all of the supplement budget requests that are being asked will go into defense production in the United States, building our own defense industrial base and helping to provide good jobs in the United States.

So for us in this moment, it’s imperative that we continue to deliver on our support, just as European and Asian partners, including those here at the G7, are doing the same.

Dmytro.

FOREIGN MINISTER KULEBA:  Thank you.  We are seeing each other against the background of another devastating attack.  Yesterday, there were three Russian missiles targeting Chernihiv, a city – big city near Kyiv: 18 dead, 78 wounded.  And the tragedy is that these kind of attacks happen almost every day in Ukraine.  This is the reality that we live in. 

And while it is true that the war consists of millions of details, the one and the only issue on my agenda here at the G7 ministerial is air defense.  And for obvious reasons, the role of the United States in the matter of air defense is fundamental.  I would like to personally thank you, Secretary Blinken, for your leadership and your sincere commitment to helping Ukraine.  The recent decision of Germany to provide Ukraine with another battery of Patriots, a U.S. technology, is deeply appreciated, but we all remember that it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the United States in making that decision happen.

So we will work here at the ministerial to make other allies deliver air-defense systems to Ukraine, because it’s of fundamental importance.  And in this regard, I would also like to call on the members of the House to support the supplemental that will literally, without exaggeration, help save Ukrainians from Russian missile slaughter.  This is a matter of death and life for thousands of people, and in a broader sense, it’s a matter of Ukraine’s survival in this struggle against much stronger enemy.

I don’t think any other country in the world would be capable of fighting against Russia, country of this size and influence and military potential.  But with the support of our friends – and first and – and mostly the United States of America – we have proven that we can deliver and we can defeat the strongest enemy.  The key issue is consistency and sustainability of support.  It’s about human lives, it’s about land, but even more so, it’s about the future of the world we live in.  Thank you.