President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking via video link on Friday at the meeting of the European Council, called for strengthening cooperation in the defense and energy spheres against the background of Russian aggression. In a video message, the head of state emphasized that only European unity can be an effective response to Russia's attempts to provoke an anti-European crisis.
"Unity is not only among politicians - in the legal space, in our institutions. It is very important that we maintain the unity of our perception of Europe as a task... Because this is the source of our strength with you. Europe will remain exactly as it is now, as long as Europeans perceive what they have, how they live, what they received from previous generations, not as a given, but as a task," Zelenskiy said.
According to the president, peace in Europe, the values of democracy and freedom, social equality and diversity, as well as security are also a common European task.
"It is not something that we can simply receive from our parents or simply pass on to our children... It is a constantly renewed task that can never be abandoned and that constantly needs new thoughts, steps and solutions to preserve all that we are with you we appreciate so much and what is so common for us. And especially now, when Europe is being so brutally and multi-level attacked by the most anti-European state in the modern world - Russia," he said.
At the same time, the head of state emphasized that only thanks to the fact that the Ukrainian people stopped the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Russia cannot yet bring the same war to other parts of Europe, in particular to the Baltic countries, Poland, and Moldova.
Against the backdrop of a severe price crisis provoked by the Russian Federation and manipulation of the energy market, Russia is putting unprecedented pressure on the standard of living of the absolute majority of Europeans, Zelenskiy noted, adding that the whole world is on the brink of a radiation disaster due to the seizure of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by Russian troops.
According to him, the answer to this should be the strengthening of defense and energy cooperation in Europe.
"We have established and should only increase our cooperation in the field of security and defense. Increase the supply of weapons and ammunition to protect against the Russian invasion. Increase the production of weapons and ammunition in Europe so that we are always ready to defend our common space," he said.
"And we must invest as much as possible now in our defense, in our security, in our cooperation, so that someone in the world, who may even have a thought to start an anti-European course, will forever have the awareness that the power of European unity is irresistible," - added Zelenskiy.
In addition, the president noted, it is necessary to approach the issue of protecting the general critical infrastructure very carefully, especially after the sabotage that took place on the gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
"Never before has our continent been faced with such a threat - the threat of destruction of underwater pipelines, cables, tunnels. But now we can expect this from Russia. At the same time, we must strengthen our cooperation to help each other provide all Europeans with adequate energy guarantees," - he added.
In this context, Zelenskiy called on the countries of the European Council to create conditions for the physical protection of energy facilities from Russian strikes, to provide Ukraine with a large number of air defense systems on the eve of winter.
He also called on Europe to influence Russia to comply with the IAEA's requirements regarding the demilitarization of the station and to facilitate the speedy restoration of the critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in Ukraine, thanking those countries that have already started work on the Fast Recovery Plan.
In addition, the head of state called on European countries to strengthen the system of sanctions pressure on the aggressor.