Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Before Their Meeting – United States Department of State

Foreign Minister Kuleba: I’m sorry to keep the Secretary in a tete-a-tete meeting for too long, but it’s always a great pleasure for me to talk and learn about everything. There are so many things happening between our two countries that there is never enough time. So (inaudible) I apologize, but put the entire blame on me.

Yes, we’re celebrating now, so it’s a great pleasure to have Secretary Blinken in Kiev, and it’s a very timely visit, because it’s a message of encouragement not only to the people of Ukraine but, most importantly, to the troops. Sends message. , to our troops who are heroically defending Ukraine in the south, in the east, near Kharkiv, in the east-northeast, where Russia tries to expand the war zone. From your presence in Kiev we see that the United States stands with Ukraine, there is support, and we will be able to endure any difficulties that Russia will try to impose on us.

To come here, for a meaningful dialogue on air defense, on the delivery of previous declarations, and on the broader political agenda, including the peace summit that will be held shortly on the initiative of Ukraine and in partnership with Switzerland, Thank You for. There are many things we talked about. We look forward to discussing even more, and Mr. Secretary, I want to thank you for always focusing on achieving concrete results. As diplomats, we are trained primarily to ensure stability of processes, but time-wartime diplomacy is different, and I appreciate that much of what we are negotiating is result-oriented.

Secretary Blinken: Well, Dmytro, I probably already spoke too much yesterday, and we – I know we have a press conference later, but I just want to say very quickly and simply that I’m on my own compared to these past How much I appreciate and value the cooperation. More than two years. That’s quite extraordinary in the most challenging circumstances, and the fact that you are such an effective representative of your country around the world is something I get a chance to see around the world almost every day.

Second, yes, I am here partly to show support, but more important than any visit or visit is the fact that in very concrete terms that support is on the way. And the President – President Biden – is working to immediately move forward all the assistance that comes with the passage of the supplemental, and it’s virtually on its way, because we know the urgency, the importance of making sure that extraordinary To the courageous Ukrainians who are here on the front lines in the fight for freedom – they need that support and they will get it.

I think the important thing is that we’ve been talking the last day about the immediate urgent needs and what we’re doing with many other countries to meet them, but also the long-term trajectory of Ukraine and especially you. Also talking about whatever they are doing. Are doing, the government is doing, Ukrainian citizens are doing in support of building a Ukraine that will stand firmly on its feet militarily, economically, democratically. And ultimately this would be the best possible rebuke to Putin: a strong, successful, prosperous Ukraine.

So we will overcome the challenges of this time and we will work together to continue to build the future that Ukrainians want and I believe Ukraine is a powerful potential example of that. And the last thing I would say – and we’ll probably talk about this later with the press – just today I saw some extraordinary examples of Ukrainian innovation, ingenuity, entrepreneurship that are benefiting not only Ukrainians but really people around the world. Will benefit. World. Be it in agriculture, be it in technology, in many other areas, Ukraine has to play a leading role.

So in all of those areas we will meet the challenges through battlefield success and help build the Ukraine everyone wants. Thank you.