I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
Today, I held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council – the first in its renewed format following changes in the Government – and focused precisely on what we had discussed with Government officials. We are introducing a moratorium – a ban – on business inspections and any interference by law enforcement, regulatory bodies, or various state agencies in business activities. Of course, this excludes very high-risk “shadow” sectors, such as excise goods – alcohol and tobacco – to prevent new “grey” schemes there. There is also now a clear list of legislative changes and concrete measures at the Government level, aimed at positively transforming the business environment in our country during the moratorium and placing each element of state agencies under real control.
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko, has proposed a completely transparent and clearly understandable system to ensure true integrity in law enforcement work on economic cases and to eliminate opportunities for corruption. I expect the relevant amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and other laws to be adopted as swiftly as possible.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and our Government officials must also ensure the implementation of support programs for Ukrainian production, Ukrainian jobs, and investment in our state – all of which enable us to supply our army and maintain our country's resilience. We remember that it is precisely Ukrainian businesses and Ukrainian enterprises that provide normal living conditions for our people and the opportunity to work under any circumstances. Business needs predictability – and it will have it. I am grateful to everyone who supports this.
Today, we also had very detailed discussions with the Government and the military officials about procurement of drones – all types of drones, including interceptor drones. In addition to this, deep strikes and drones for the frontline. I have instructed that contracting be expanded to the maximum – we are procuring everything capable of defending our cities from “shaheds” and protecting our frontline positions. This is also one of the tasks for Ukrainian diplomats – today I took part in a meeting with our country’s ambassadors.
We have a significant funding shortage for arms production in Ukraine; and Ukrainian diplomats, together with all Government officials and the Presidential Office, must secure agreements with partners on financing. I have already raised this issue with some leaders. There is readiness among our friends, readiness among Europeans to help. We must fully and rapidly implement every agreement. We are also preparing a significant intensification of work on sanctions against Russia over this war. These are both new sanctions by us and our partners, as well as synchronizing sanctions.
Russia exploits every sanction loophole to fund its war. Accordingly, we must maximize the synchronization of all sanctions – our partners’ sanctions in Ukrainian jurisdiction, Ukrainian sanctions in our partners’ jurisdictions, and partners' sanction regimes must be harmonized among them as well. The workload is significant, but sanctions have proven effective. We see in the “negatives” in the Russian economy, their budget problems, production issues – sanctions really work. There must be more of this to drain Russia’s economic potential.
And one more thing.
All day today, efforts have been underway to eliminate the consequences of the Russian strike on our cities and our Ukrainian communities. Various regions – from Kharkiv and Sumy to Ivano-Frankivsk. There was a massive attack on Kyiv. A significant number of “shaheds” and missiles were shot down. And every such wave of Russian strikes reminds us of two things: air defense – we need more systems, more coverage across our country; and also our long-range strikes on Russia – if Putin is off the deep end with this “shahed” obsession and terror, they must be left without logistics. Everyone working to protect life and limit Russia’s war potential is working toward achieving peace. I also thank all partners who are pushing for new and stronger sanctions, including secondary sanctions. Let Russian bravado not deceive anyone – they are truly feeling the impact of sanctions, and they must end the aggression. Russia must end this war it itself started. Nobody else needs this war but Russia. There will definitely be peace. I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine! I thank our warriors! And one more thing.
Today I discussed with Rustem Umerov the preparation for a prisoner exchange and another meeting in Türkiye with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is planned for Wednesday. More details will follow tomorrow.
Glory to Ukraine!
