President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking via video link at a meeting of the European Council on Friday, called on them to strengthen cooperation in the defense and energy sectors amid confronting Russian aggression.

In his video message, the head of state focused on the fact that only unity in Europe can be an effective response to Russia's attempts to provoke an anti-European crisis.

"And it is the unity of not only leaders and states. Not only in the legal space. Not only in our institutions. It is very important that the unity of our perception of Europe as a task remains... Because this is the source of our strength. Europe will remain exactly as it is now, as long as Europeans perceive what they have, how they live, what they received from previous generations, not as givenness, but as a task," Zelensky said.

The all-European task, according to the president, is also peace in Europe, the values of democracy and freedom, social equality and diversity, as well as security.

"This is not something that we can simply get from our parents or simply pass on to our children... It is a constantly renewing task that can never be abandoned and that constantly needs new thoughts, steps and solutions to preserve all that you and I value so much and that is so familiar to us. And especially now – at a time when Europe is being so brutally attacked at many levels by the most anti-European state of the modern world – Russia," he said.

At the same time, the head of state stressed that only due to the fact that the Ukrainian people stopped Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia cannot yet bring the same war to other parts of Europe, in particular, to the Baltic countries, Poland, and Moldova.

Amid a severe price crisis provoked by the Russian Federation, manipulations with the energy market, Russia is reaching unprecedented pressure on the standard of living of the vast majority of Europeans, Zelensky noted, adding that the whole world is on the verge of a radiation catastrophe due to the capture of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant by Russian troops.

The answer to this, he said, should be the strengthening of defense and energy cooperation in Europe.

"We have established and should only increase our cooperation in the security and defense areas. Increase the supply of weapons and ammunition to defend against the Russian pressure. Increase the manufacture of weapons and ammunition in Europe to be always ready to defend our common space," he said.

"And we must invest now in our defense, in our security, in our cooperation as much as possible, so that anyone in the world, who might even have a thought to start an anti-European path, will forever be aware that the strength of European unity is insuperable," Zelensky added.

In addition, the president noted, it is necessary to carefully approach the issue of protecting common critical infrastructure, especially after the sabotage at gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

"Never before has our continent faced such a threat – the threat of destroying underwater pipelines, cables, and tunnels. But now you can expect this from Russia. At the same time, we must strengthen our cooperation to help each other, provide all Europeans with adequate energy guarantees," he said.

In this context, Zelensky called on the countries of the European Council to create conditions for the physical protection of energy facilities from Russian strikes, to provide Ukraine with a large number of air defense systems on the eve of winter.

He also called on Europe to influence Russia regarding the implementation of the IAEA requirements for the demilitarization of the plant and to contribute to the speedy restoration of critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in Ukraine, thanking those countries that have already begun work on the Fast Recovery Plan.

In addition, the head of state called on European countries to strengthen the system of sanctions pressure on the aggressor.