'The war continues because of Russia' – Zelensky's full speech at European Council

Editor's note: This is the transcript of President Volodymyr Zelensky's address to the Special European Council released by the President's Office on March 6.

President Costa!

President von der Leyen!

Dear colleagues, glad to see you all.

I’ve already spoken to many of you these days and weeks, and I am grateful for your support. Ukrainians really appreciate that in a time of such great emotions in global politics, European integrity is preserved, and Europe is really trying to do the right thing.

First. I want to inform all of you that our teams – Ukraine and America – have resumed work. We hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting.

Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason why the war continues is because of Russia. Ukraine is not only ready to take the necessary steps for peace, but we are also proposing what those steps are. And I ask you to support us in this – support Ukraine and those European leaders who are helping to pave the way for peace.

We see several steps now.

Everyone needs to make sure that Russia, as the sole source of this war, accepts the need to end it. This can be proved by two forms of silence that are easy to establish and monitor, namely, no attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure – truce for missiles, bombs, and long-range drones, and the second is truce on the water, meaning no military operations in the Black Sea.

The next step is basic trust to the circumstances in which the negotiations are taking place.

Ukrainians, all Europeans, Americans, every human heart in the world that does not agree with the war – we all need to feel that the Russians are not deceiving us. The release of prisoners can be a means of establishing basic trust.

And this should be based on the understanding that any truce and any form of trust building measures can only be a prologue to a full and fair settlement, to a comprehensive agreement on security guarantees and an end to the war.

Let me emphasize once again that Ukrainians do really want peace, but not at the cost of giving up Ukraine. Is Russia capable of giving up the war – this is the question that any negotiations must answer.

And please be sure that Ukraine will share all the details of peace plans and talks’ process to all of Europe, every European nation that helps must be on board on the path to peace.

Second. I urge you to continue to support the position that any issues related to Ukraine’s security should be resolved with Ukraine’s participation, just as any issues related to the security of your nations or any issues related to the security of our entire Europe should be resolved with your participation. Only this can guarantee peace on the continent and respect for the interests of all European states. That is why we are trying to ensure that European interests are represented. Anything that affects the security of Europe should be resolved with the participation of Europe.

Third. I thank you for your determination to help us defend Ukraine. Every day and every night we have to protect lives. Russian ballistic missiles continue to strike our cities. The shelling at the front continues. Russian sabotage groups are still trying to enter our territory across the border in Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Moscow is not reducing its investment in death, increasing its army, and making no pauses in trying to overcome sanctions. Russia now has 220 brigades with war experience. In five years, they will bring this number to 300. We need to respond to this by taking care of lives now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

I welcome the European Commission’s efforts to re-arm Europe and the Rearm Europe Plan is the right initiative. The defense funds under this European Plan should strengthen all parts of Europe, and I call for a significant part to be allocated to arms production in Ukraine – our industrial capabilities are the fastest and most relevant to the current security threats.

I welcome the efforts of my European colleagues – and this is not just about the EU, but about Europe in a broad sense – to increase national defense spending and modernize national armies. Everyone in Europe needs this. When we agree on the format of the Armed Forces of Europe, this format will rely on the strength of national armies and on the experience of deploying partner contingents in Ukraine, which is what we are now working on.

I also welcome the investments of all partners in the defense industry – in Ukraine and in your countries, the industrial base of Europe must grow.

Europe should become the place where the most technologically advanced and effective weapons in the world are produced, and this is not a fantasy if Europeans really set themselves this goal.

And a few more things. I’m grateful to you for the 16th EU sanctions package, and we must continue this pressure. We need a 17th sanctions package. The sanctions should work until Russia stops the occupation.

I know that a special European financial instrument for Ukraine’s resilience is being developed, please speed up this work.

In all these circumstances, it is needed to speed up the work of our teams in the negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU. As of now, the work on clusters is actually blocked without any rational reason. We need common sense, we need to unblock the work on clusters, and this can be done at the leadership level.

Thank you.