Zelenskyy: All partners must work together to remove threats in Hormuz
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the international community to work together to remove threats and ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. He made the statement during an online meeting on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the presidential press service said.
"We all understand the problems caused by the war in Iran. Today, the economy has become global, and this affects the cost of living everywhere. We all have to work together to remove threats in Hormuz. But we need to act in a way that helps protect freedom of navigation worldwide, not only in Hormuz. And the decisions made on Hormuz now will determine how other aggressive actors perceive the possibility of creating problems in other straits and on other fronts," Zelenskyy said in his address.
He said there are security tasks in Hormuz that cannot be resolved by political decisions alone and require a reliable and long-term approach.
"First of all, we need to determine what in Hormuz depends on all of us and what depends on the United States. It is also important to involve Middle Eastern countries in a way that takes their shared interests into account. The key principle is that after this war, security must become stronger, not weaker. Second, we need to organize a meeting of our military commands as soon as possible and work through all the critical aspects of how a security mission in Hormuz could function and what experience each side can offer," the president said.
He recalled that Ukraine had already carried out a very similar mission in the Black Sea and has experience in escorting merchant vessels, mine clearance, defense against air attacks and the overall coordination of such operations. The Ukrainian side is already working in the Gulf region on air security and is ready to contribute to maritime security.
At the same time, the president added, the war in Iran is negatively affecting the situation in Europe because of Russia's war against Ukraine.
"Russia remains a terrorist state and is not going to reduce the number or brutality of its strikes. For various reasons, the United States may reduce pressure on Russia, which could lead to a shortage of the weapons we need to defend against these attacks, especially air defense systems – you know this. So this means that in Europe we need to take even stronger joint steps to protect lives, first of all to counter ballistic threats and maintain pressure on Russia over this war. I am grateful to all the countries that are already helping us in this - those taking new steps in air defense, supporting the PURL initiative and accelerating projects for domestic production of the weapons we need, especially in Europe," the president said.