"Tomahawks", strikes on the Russian Federation and the proposal to exchange territories: all the key points from Zelensky's speech (video)

As Reuters reports, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Thursday appealed to EU leaders to provide Ukraine with long-range combat equipment, after bilateral negotiations in Washington did not finalize the supply of Tomahawk missiles from the United States. Zelensky emphasized that long-range missiles are capable of changing the course of the war and making the Kremlin regime feel the real consequences of aggression.

"When we talk about long-range weapons for Ukraine, we mean that Putin's regime must feel the real consequences of this war," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The President reported that the issue of Tomahawk deliveries was discussed in the peace negotiations with the American side, but no final guarantees were received. He also noted that some European countries have similar cruise missiles and negotiations are already underway with them.

According to Zelenskyi, Ukraine has the right to use frozen Russian assets for the production of its own defense products and for the purchase of European and American weapons. "We plan to use a significant part of these funds for the purchase of European weapons," the President said. He also called on the EU to make a political decision to create a large reparation loan mechanism based on frozen Russian assets, and to speed up the implementation of the PURL and SAFE initiatives.

Commenting on the ideas of exchanging territories, which were voiced as an option for ending hostilities, Zelenskyy called such a formula unacceptable. "It is not an exchange when you exchange your territory for your territory. It is not an exchange when you exchange 'nothing' for your territory," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He emphasized that it is not only about areas, but about the sovereignty of the country, and refused to recognize any proposals that would mean the loss of control over Ukrainian territory. Zelenskyi noted that Ukraine is conducting negotiations on the supply of air defense systems, in particular, the topic of Patriot was discussed, but some partners are in the queue waiting for deliveries.

The president proposed to change the order of equipment transfer — to temporarily receive the systems now, with their subsequent replacement or return when it is the turn of other countries. The head of state also emphasized the need for additional funding for the mass production of domestic long-range weapons — "the question is how to get additional funding to mass-produce our long-range capabilities," he stated.

Responding to journalists' questions, Zelenskyi denied claims about the use of long-range weapons by the United States to strike very important targets on the territory of the Russian Federation and explained that Ukrainian forces used various means with long-range capabilities exclusively within the framework of hostilities or in preparation for them. "We have never used American-made long-range weapons for very important purposes on the territory of the Russian Federation.

We used different ones with good long-range capabilities, but this was exclusively on the territory of hostilities. . . or preparations for going on combat missions on the part of the Russian Federation," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Separately, the president emphasized the capabilities of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons. "We have a clear use of the long-range capabilities of Ukrainian production.