Our Key Emphases Are the Air Defense and the Energy Industry – Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a Joint Press Conference with Olaf Scholz
Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 is an event that has already yielded results. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after their meeting on the sidelines of the Conference in Berlin.
“Today, Ukrainian and German officials, our communities, our businesses are represented here, and now we have concrete agreements at each level that will be implemented to better protect the lives of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” the Head of State said.
During the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Olaf Scholz discussed in detail the frontline situation and the steps needed to ensure sufficient generation of energy. The President thanked him for leadership in protecting the Ukrainian skies with Patriot systems.
“Our key emphases today are, of course, the air defense and the energy industry. Once Russia's ability to terrorize its neighbors is limited, Russia will finally be forced to seek a path to real peace. It’s because this is Putin's key advantage — missile strikes, guided aerial bombs, attack drones. Together, we must ensure the blackout of Russian terror in order to bring out of the blackout the possibility of real peace. And we can do it together with Germany,” the President of Ukraine noted.
The Head of State also expressed his gratitude to Germany for supporting Ukraine's path to European integration and the inaugural Peace Summit, as well as for helping our country prepare for the G7 Summit.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz assured further support for Ukraine and noted the participation of German business in reconstruction.
"Rebuilding the country will require large investments, and this is impossible without private capital. We are talking about rebuilding a country that is a future EU member. Ukraine has huge potential in renewable energy and hydrogen, as well as in such promising sectors as digitalization and IT, healthcare and pharmaceuticals,” he said.
Olaf Scholz also stated that the European Commission plans to announce the creation of an equity fund that will be used to provide assistance to Ukraine.