Andrei Gornish

Received a report from our negotiating team. Today was the first day of meetings in Abu Dhabi. First came a meeting with our European and American partners, followed by a trilateral format between our delegation and the American and Russian delegations. I am grateful to all of Ukraine’s partners for their support. The trilateral format was constructive and quite substantive. They had time to discuss the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps. The release of prisoners is a priority. They spoke in detail about the substance of security guarantees for Ukraine and the foundations for ensuring these guarantees function over the long term. Real tools are needed to block any recurrence of the war. The need for de-escalation steps was also touched upon. I gave our team clear instructions for further dialogue – both in the trilateral format tomorrow and more broadly, over the coming days, with envoys of the U.S. President and representatives of Europe. The main thing is to truly bring peace closer. And on Ukraine’s part, there will be only productive, high-quality, and honest work. I thank the American side for organizing these negotiations and the UAE for providing a reliable platform for them.

I held a coordination call. First, the Dnipro region. Restoration work continues following the strikes over the past 24 hours. Dnipro, Pavlohrad, Kamyanske, and other cities and communities in the region. At the peak of the outages, more than 600,000 customers were without power – people, businesses, and critical infrastructure. Power supply is gradually being restored. I thank all the repair crews, every energy worker, and all the services involved. There were also reports on the situation in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and other frontline communities. Separately, we discussed the challenges in Kyiv. The Prime Minister, the NSDC Secretary, and the Minister of Internal Affairs presented options for contingency transport plans for the capital. The necessary number of vehicles and the reorganization of traffic in designated parts of Kyiv are being worked out. It is important that the Government also prepare concrete measures to support the uninterrupted operation and guaranteed availability of urban surface public transportation in the event of disruptions to metro services or challenges with bridges across the Dnipro River. I instructed the Prime Minister to present a program for free travel on urban surface public transportation and a sufficient reserve of buses for Kyiv. Thank you for the concrete proposals. We also set specific tasks for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the diplomatic team of the Office of the President ahead of international events in the coming weeks. We are preparing new energy support packages for Ukraine and additional financial instruments to support Ukrainians this winter. Glory to Ukraine!

I spoke with President of the European Commission Ursula @vonderLeyen. Right now, many of our cities and communities are facing a very difficult situation with power, water, and heating supplies due to Russian strikes. The situation is most difficult in Kyiv, the Dnipro, Sumy, and Donetsk regions, and Kherson. I told Ursula about the challenges, and we agreed that the European Union would activate a special emergency mechanism. This will make it possible to quickly provide Ukraine with funding for what is needed most right now. Our teams are already working on this. We discussed additional energy and humanitarian assistance to prepare for winter, as well as issues related to European integration. Last week, the European Commission published its annual EU Enlargement Package, which gave a positive assessment of Ukraine’s progress. It is important to open all the clusters and begin closing the chapters. Of course, we also discussed diplomacy. In recent days, talks were held in Brussels, where our teams did a good job working on a recovery plan and security guarantees from Europe. Ursula and I also coordinated our positions regarding the meeting in Abu Dhabi. We are doing everything to ensure that the trilateral format delivers results. Thank you, Ursula!

We fight for freedom and die for freedom. Words are important. Words from the United States – the biggest supporter of freedom – are important. Support is important. If the words against Putin and his aggression are strong, if a support package for Ukraine is strong, Putin will think twice, three times, ten times about whether he wants to attack or maybe this war has been enough for him. I always tried to make this point to the American President, with all due gratitude to him and his team: Putin respects only a strong position. Even from the enemy, but a strong position. We cannot end this war saying good things about him. We see it – the war is in its fifth year now. From an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN. (2/3)

I spoke with @AlexStubb. We are coordinating our efforts ahead of the meeting in Abu Dhabi. We need strong, joint positions with our partners. Our top priority is ending the war. There must be no alternative to a just and lasting peace. Security guarantees must be real. Russia must understand that any war will come at a painful cost, borne by none other than the aggressor. Thank you to Finland for its unwavering principled stance! And thank you for helping us communicate with our other partners. Tomorrow, we will hold a substantive preparation meeting with our delegation. Glory to Ukraine!