President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the need for the Armed Forces to make this year decisive for achieving Ukrainian goals in the war against Russia.

"We discussed with Zaluzhny the possibilities of Ukraine this year - on the battlefield. We must make this year decisive. Crucial for achieving Ukrainian goals in the war," Zelenskyy said in a video message.

According to him, "Russia cannot just accept the existence of an independent Ukraine, but it will have to accept the strength of our state."

"The experience of two years of this war has convinced me that only Russia's defeats in this war bring peace closer," the President said.

As he noted, every year of this war has its own character.

“We withstood the first year. We started to reclaim our ground. We proved to the world that Russia can lose. In the second year of this war, we won the Black Sea. We won the winter. We proved that we can regain control of the Ukrainian sky. But, unfortunately, we failed to achieve the goals of our state on land,” he said.

“We have to be honest – the feeling of stagnation specifically in the southern directions and the difficulties in the battles in the Donetsk region have affected the public mood. Ukrainians are speaking of victory less often. However, the Ukrainian spirit has not lost faith in victory. Ukraine retains its historic chance. It is our duty to realize it,” Zelenskyy added.

According to Zelenskyy, “this year should be the time of Ukraine – the time when every Ukrainian warrior will know, as before, that the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian army are capable of winning.”

The President of Ukraine also thanked former Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny for two years of defense of the state.