Thread by @ZelenskyyUa

For years, Russia's fleet and control over the Black Sea have created the illusion of insurmountable dominance.

The relocation of hundreds of thousands of Russians and mass opression have created an illusion of a subdued Crimea.

Illusions are vanishing now. We make them vanish.

First, Russia’s navy can no longer operate in the western Black Sea and is gradually retreating from Crimea.

Moscow had to announce a new base for its fleet—or rather, its remnants—in the south-east. Away from Ukrainian missiles and sea drones.

But we will get them anywhere.

Second, Russian terrorists no longer have a single safe base or fully protected logistical route in Crimea or the occupied Black and Azov seacoasts. We have not yet established full fire control over all of Crimea and adjacent waters. But we will. This is only a matter of time.

Third, pro-Ukrainian sentiments in Crimea are becoming more outspoken. People there, like those in other occupied areas of Ukraine, understand that Russia will leave. Russia's weakness becomes more audible than the occupied people's fear. We see how many allies we have in Crimea.

Fourth, Ukraine has been able to reestablish the Black Sea as a global food security lifeline. Without Ukrainian agricultural exports, food price crises and social unrest threaten dozens of nations, from Western Africa to Asia.

Last year, we launched the Black Sea Grain Initiative together with Türkiye and the UN. Then added the humanitarian “Grain From Ukraine”. Russia decided to ruin this food security architecture, but we opened new export routes in addition to the Danube ones and the land corridors of the Solidarity Lanes. Since we launched the new Black Sea grain corridor, about 50 vessels have arrived for loading, with another fifty already announced to arrive.

Fifth, it is about values.

When Russian aggression began in 2014, many were willing to turn a blind eye to the occupation of Crimea, hoping to appease the aggressor. Instead, it has fueled its ambitions and sense of impunity.

We are now gradually dismantling Russia's impunity.

Our task now is to maintain and increase pressure on the occupiers. And my call for you today is simple: do not stop halfway. It is not easy to rid the Black Sea of the Russian terrorist fleet. However, it is still far simpler to rid the information space of Russian propaganda that seeks to undermine what we have accomplished together and destabilize the democratic order.

Similarly to how we destroy the invaders' logistics on our land, their sanctions evasion logistics via any middlemen, whether nations or corporations, must not be able to operate safely. Sanctions must be effective, and I urge you to tighten the parliamentary oversight of them.

Motivation is also a weapon. It also needs to be charged. I thank all nations that are sincerely willing to support Ukraine for as long and as much as it takes for us to prevail. Our people should see it so that their determination to fight the occupiers stays at its peak.

Overall, the long-term security of Europe is dependent on this. Russia’s defeat is Europe’s security. The security of any nation used to living in freedom and relying on a world where aggressors have no place.

We must all work together to prevent new crises, particularly those involving food, energy, or migration. So that existing conflicts do not expand across various regions. In this regard, the increase of violence in the Middle East poses a significant risk.

Everyone sees which forces may emerge from such an escalation of violence. And everyone sees that this should be avoided. And it can be avoided! I urge you to support the relevant efforts of all leaders, aimed at saving the lives of civilians, wherever they might be, and stabilizing the entire region.

Without stability in the Middle East, it will be much harder to restore peace in Europe. And in order to block the way to ruins in the Middle East, the path to hostage release must be opened.

This summit is attended by Crimean Tatars. I urge all of its participants to feel their pain—the pain of indigenous people who were evicted from their homes, endured deportation orchestrated by Moscow, and have already been kept captive by the occupiers for almost 10 years.

Russia’s attempts to control Crimea are not just a story about a military bridgehead that Moscow needs to destabilize other regions. It is about saving people from oppression. About releasing political prisoners from Russian prisons: women, men, young people, and the elderly.

This is about families that deserve to be protected, a culture that, like any other, has the right to have a home free of invaders. Keep those people in mind. Nobody deserves to have their destinies "frozen." This is why we seek full deoccupation of our land, including Crimea.