At Ukraine-Nordic-Baltic States Summit, I noted that Russian economy is in bad shape: fuel and labor shortages, many industries in decline. Putin constantly humiliates before China as he tries to sell them as much raw material as possible. This is telling – sanctions are working. 
Last night, Russia launched another massive strike – nearly 500 drones and over 20 missiles, including ballistic. These strikes are now regular, several times a week. A clear signal that Russia rejects any attempt to end the war and wants to keep fighting. We must assume this is Russia’s main scenario now.
We began a concrete discussion with partners on two key issues: our defense now, while Russia’s war continues, and our defense in the future – the security guarantees we need, since Russia stays on its course.
On defense right now: I thank Denmark for its leadership in funding our weapons production. This is already a historic contribution. A new plant for missiles and drones is being built in Denmark. We agreed Latvia, Lithuania and others will follow, building together with Ukraine.
We discussed the PURL initiative. In August, it was filled with $2B for American weapons. The goal: add $1B every month. I thank Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, and Iceland who are already in, and urge others from the Nordics and Baltics to join. This program strengthens both our defense and relations with the US.
Boosting Ukraine’s air defense is critical – it directly saves lives. With Nordics and Baltics, we discussed providing another Patriot system – this is critical, especially before winter. Russia strikes our energy sector daily. We need enough capabilities to protect our people.
We also coordinated positions on new sanctions against Russia and on work with partners, especially the US. We must all speak to America with one voice – for our shared interests.
On security guarantees: We are working within the Coalition of the Willing and bilaterally. We already have bilateral agreements, including with Denmark. We share the view that Ukraine’s future security needs Article-5-like guarantees.
Today we discussed this in detail, with the possible contributions of each country. Now we’ll fit it with specifics: who does what on land, in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace. Our army is the core of this system, strong and large enough to resist Russia. This means weapons and financing, and we are working on it.
We also have signals from the US of a possible backstop – very important. And we discussed the role of EU membership in this holistic system of security guarantees. With Denmark’s EU current presidency, we are working together to open the clusters by EU-27.
The main task now is to force Russia to stop the killings and the war. We must keep pressing with sanctions and tariffs until Russia understands this war will end. We will work with Europe, G7, G20, and the US. Peace can only be a joint achievement. I am sure it will come.
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