Ukrainian → English transcript

Dear Ukrainians, men and women, in just the past few days I have already held nearly 20 conversations with our partners.

They all, as one, say they are impressed by how Ukraine is holding up under the current pressure,

by how Ukraine is fighting to find peace for its people, and in fact for everyone in Europe, at the very least.

Today I have already spoken with the President of Finland; Alex briefed me on what Russia has said, both formally and informally,

and on the conditions Russia is putting forward. Right now we are preparing for a meeting with the American side,

about the steps needed for peace to truly come. And so that it is a dignified peace.

And when all attention is focused on diplomacy and on defense in the war, internal strength is needed.

Internal strength is the foundation of our external unity and of our relations with the world.

And for internal strength to exist, there must be no reasons to be distracted by anything other than defending Ukraine.

I want no one to have any questions about Ukraine. Therefore, today the following domestic decisions.

First. There will be a shake-up of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The Head of the Office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation.

I am grateful to Andriy for always presenting Ukraine's position in the negotiation track exactly as it should be.

It has always been a patriotic position. But I want there to be no rumors or speculation.

As for the new head of the Office, tomorrow I will hold consultations with those who could lead this institution.

There will be talks soon, and our representatives will attend. They will be the Chief of the General Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and our intelligence service.

And when we all face such an external challenge — war — we must be strong internally.

100% of our strength will be focused on defending Ukraine.

Everyone must now act in this way, in the interests of our state, and defend our state.

This is an unchanging principle. Meetings with the American side will take place very soon.

Second. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. I expect that Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko, together with members of parliament, in dialogue and unity, will ensure three things for Ukraine.

Most important — to adopt the 2026 budget, that is, our state's ability to defend itself, to fund defense, to provide all social payments, and to maintain the necessary resilience.

I also expect nominations for the ministers of energy and justice.

Current ministers must be evaluated so that absolutely clear conclusions can be drawn. Do the current officials meet the challenges of this winter and of this war?

Third. I spoke with the Security Service of Ukraine and asked them to conduct their own analysis of the situation in the law enforcement system and in the regions.

Reports will follow soon, I will have conclusions, and decisions will be made. There is too much negativity coming from the regions.

We agreed that the Security Service will provide me with information quickly. And, of course, the army—our soldiers—are heroes.

Our soldiers are destroying the enemy, and that is precisely the foundation of our ability to build diplomacy.

There are problems that should have been resolved long ago. The Commander-in-Chief, the General Staff, Pavlo, and Palisa are already working on this and next week will prepare the appropriate measures.

First and foremost, to ensure a fair, rational distribution of personnel among the brigades.

The principles for how to do this already exist, and every combat brigade is talking about it. A decision will be made.

Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine. Thank you to everyone who now and always defends Ukraine.

I thank all those who ensure the pressure is on Russia, on the cause of this war, and not on our state and people, not on Ukrainians.

Ukrainians must win. That is the most important thing. Russia very much wants Ukraine to make mistakes.

There will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues. Our struggle continues.

We have no right to stop pressing. We have no right to retreat or to fall out with one another.

We will lose our unity. We risk losing everything. Ourselves. Ukraine. Our future.

We must pull ourselves together. We must hold on. We have no other choice. There will be no other Ukraine. We are defending Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!