"The duty of local authorities is to ensure the availability and availability of shelters XNUMX hours a day." Address of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi

02.06.2023 10:02

Photo by president.gov.ua

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressed the people, talking about the need for the availability of shelters for citizens during terrorist missile attacks and the participation of our delegation in the summit of the European Political Community in Moldova.

"Dear Ukrainians!

This long and difficult day is coming to an end.

First of all, my condolences to the relatives and friends of those whose lives were taken by Russia, taken away by Russian strikes.

We do our best to protect people. There was no such international meeting, there were no such international negotiations, at which the issue of air defense for Ukraine was not raised.

But protecting people is protection on all levels. Shelters must be available. A situation like this night in Kyiv, when people came to the shelter, and the shelter was closed, should never happen again. This is the duty of representatives of local authorities, a very specific duty — to ensure the availability and availability of shelters XNUMX hours a day. It is painful to see a careless attitude towards this duty. It hurts to see losses. And if the duty is not fulfilled on the ground, it is the direct duty of the law enforcement officers to prosecute.

Today, in our country, as in many other countries, Children's Protection Day is celebrated. But also on this day, the terrorist state took the life of a Ukrainian child. But even on this day, Russia shelled our cities - from Kharkiv to Kherson, from Kyiv to Donbas. But we also used this day to the maximum to bring the defeat of the terrorists closer. And this day has become a time when we bring Russia closer to the responsibility of every murderer, every terrorist.

Starting this morning, our Ukrainian delegation is in Moldova at the summit of the European Political Community. Now here is the center of political discussions on our continent. There were very important negotiations. The President of Moldova and the President of France, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the President of the European Commission, the President of Romania and the Prime Minister of Portugal, the Prime Minister of Albania and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, the Prime Minister of Italy, the Prime Minister of Spain, the President of Switzerland, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, the President of Azerbaijan, the Chancellor of Germany.

There was also an expanded format with representatives of the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland, and Belgium. And, of course, meetings on the sidelines of the summit and a joint meeting of all the participants of the summit.

We are preparing new defense solutions for Ukraine — this applies to air defense, aviation, and our advancement on the ground. We are preparing real political content for the NATO summit in Vilnius. We are preparing a package of security guarantees for our country on the way to the Alliance. We are doing everything to bring Ukraine closer to the political decision of the European Union regarding membership. We are preparing a peace summit based on the Ukrainian peace formula.

And I thank all the leaders, all the countries that support us on these points. This is not only support for Ukraine - it is support for real security for the whole of Europe.

Separately, I want to thank Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, for supporting our initiatives to protect our children, to find and return those little Ukrainians who were deported to Russia. We must return them all, we must do everything possible and impossible to give protection to all our people - to the maximum - from any Russian threats. I'm sure it's possible.

I would like to especially thank President Michel, the President of the European Council, who today held a special security session within the framework of the summit.

And separately, I want to thank Roberta Mezzola, the President of the European Parliament, for the adopted decision on ammunition for Ukraine — for supporting the allocation of an additional 500 million euros for this. Thank you!

Thanks to all our soldiers! Thanks to everyone who trains our soldiers! Who helps us with weapons! Who treats our heroes after injuries! Thank you to all the rescuers, all our employees of the State Emergency Service and other services who are eliminating the consequences of the Russian strikes! Thanks to all volunteers who help our soldiers, our people, our state!

Thank you to everyone with whom we are walking side by side to our victory, to our peace and to the punishment of Russian terrorists.

Glory to Ukraine!"