Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky urged the diplomatic corps not to hesitate to ask partners for support and financial assistance.
"A reflection on the fact that I heard the word 'beg' used in connection with assistance. Colleagues, we are not begging. There is the Budapest Memorandum; there are various legal and moral obligations on the part of our global partners to support and protect us. We are part of European security, and we are fighting for our survival; therefore, we are not ashamed to ask our partners for support and financial assistance. The world promised us guarantees, so we call on our partners to fulfill those commitments – including financial ones – since we are the ones fighting on the battlefield right now," Koretsky said at a meeting with ambassadors in Kyiv on Monday.
He said that in addition to making requests, Ukraine is also proposing projects.
"We are proposing joint projects; we are proposing defense projects; we are offering our expertise on how to protect our infrastructure passively, combined with active defense. In other words, there's no need to be shy about this – it's our state's instinct for self-preservation, and we are 100% confident in discussing the continuation of this assistance with our partners," Koretsky added.
