President Volodymyr Zelensky noted the necessity of changing the style and philosophy of Ukrainian foreign policy - it must be fast, creative, ambitious and result-oriented. The Head of the state said this during his speech at the conference of the heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine "Diplomacy 30. Strategy of strong state" held in Huta of Ivano-Frankivsk region, the press service of the President of Ukraine informs.
The President noted that today's conference is an important part of the new format of Ukrainian diplomacy, within the framework of which such meetings will be held annually.
As Volodymyr Zelensky noted, the world today lives in a new reality, where global changes are taking place every day.
"Under these conditions, we must change the style and philosophy of our foreign policy. Today it needs many things, I would like to dwell on four main, in my opinion, priority," - stressed the head of state.
"The first is speed. From excessively conservative, and therefore very slow, our diplomacy must become lively and dynamic, that is, fast. Currently, in many processes Ukraine is forced to catch up. And this is wrong," said the President.
According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine must move fast, and therefore should not waste time on secondary things.
"We strive to unblock the process of peaceful settlement in Donbass as soon as possible, return Crimea, achieve EU membership in the coming years and get a very clear time perspective from NATO. Very concrete. And we want to get it in 2022," the President of Ukraine said.
To achieve all these goals, according to the Head of State, we need the second thing - creativity. After all, the desire for a quick result forces Ukraine to look for all possible ways to achieve it.
"We must not wait for someone to solve our problems for us, but look for and offer new mechanisms, new formats every day. Each of you must go beyond the traditional political plane. Think about how we can help our state, Ukraine, apart from the usual daily appeals to maintain sanctions or join NATO. I am waiting for such formats, I am waiting for your enterprising ideas," said Volodymyr Zelensky.
In order for these ideas to be interesting and receive the support of Ukraine's international partners, a third thing is needed - ambition, says the President.
"Ambitiousness of opinions, ambitiousness of formats, ambitiousness of ideas. This is the face of our state. Get rid of the negative, constantly repressed, pessimistic thinking. Get rid of such words: it is impossible, it will not happen, and it is not for us, and God forbid, our level. Get rid of the complex of a third world country. We have a thousand-year history of statehood. We had mechanisms of democracy and grass-roots democracy long before many European countries. We have a huge potential. Europe needs Ukraine, not the other way around. That is ambition," the Head of State stressed.
According to the President, changing our own perception of Ukraine will also change the perception of our country worldwide. According to him, Ukraine must assert itself as a strong strategic partner and a source of opportunities, rather than problems and threats. The formation of Ukraine as a regional leader must be continued. Through small unions and initiatives, a new reality must be built, where Ukraine is the driver and the leader of processes.
"Not a poor relative who is always asking for something from someone, but a strong, self-sufficient country, first of all counting only on itself. And it is fine if other countries count on Ukraine. This is ambitious," added Volodymyr Zelensky.
All of these factors, according to the President, will provide the fourth, most important component - the result, which is measured not by the number of statements, but by the concrete amount of support, projects, and investments
"Specificity. Less politics, more economics. Because it is this and the common economic interest of one or another state that strengthens the political partnership between countries. There should be more Ukrainian products abroad every day. We must expand free trade area agreements with EU, Canada, Israel. We are finalizing, I really believe in it, a free trade area with Turkey - I would like to do it at the beginning of next year, when President Erdogan will visit Ukraine. Also to move towards liberalization of trade with the USA, Japan and other prospective trade partners. We need to move away from a template vision, constantly looking for new opportunities, constantly looking for new markets. This is ambitious and this is about the result," the Head of State noted.
According to him, Ukraine must make more use of the potential opportunities of India, China, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
"In fact we must reopen these regions for Ukraine and for our business, for our goods, for a Ukrainian. We are strengthening our diplomatic presence and soon we will open new embassies in many countries. I think this is an excellent result," said Volodymyr Zelensky.
The President stressed that Ukrainian diplomats should transform their work in host countries into concrete economic and social achievements, because sometimes political dividends go side by side with economics.
"I am ready to personally visit key capitals, hold talks with leaders where we open embassies, where there is specificity, where there are certain joint businesses, economic projects for our state. I know that a personal visit is really a requirement of some regions. That's the way leaders in other states are used to living. And so - please, we are open, we are ready. There is no problem in this," he assured, adding that first of all it is necessary to fill such visits with content from the point of view of economy and trade.
The head of state urged Ukrainian diplomats to look for specific topics in which Ukraine could interest the leaders of other states and what would be interesting for our country: joint initiatives and agreements.
"In a word, the result, with which I and our delegation should return to Ukraine from each foreign visit, is measured by your effectiveness in the position of ambassador," said Volodymyr Zelensky.
