[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for your attention to Ukraine and for this opportunity to address those who create the globally important economic strength of America.

Tomorrow is eleven months since the start of Russia’s brutal and predatory full-scale war against Ukraine. This is the time when Ukraine, the United States, and all our allies and partners are united as never before.

What have we achieved together during this time?

We fight every day to defend our people, our borders, and our values. And we managed to stop the spread of Russian aggression.

Today we can say with confidence that we can overcome this evil on Ukrainian soil -- even though Russia has found a terrorist ally in the face of the Iranian regime, which supplies weapons to the Kremlin.

Thanks to the courage of our soldiers holding back the occupiers, and thanks to the leadership of the United States of America, which has consolidated the world in defense of freedom, we see how to win this battle.

Yet, to win we must engage all our resolve and our strength. It is like starting your own business and working every day from morning till night, every day so that one day you can see how your dream is becoming true -- when you finally have your own operating business.

Anyone who has such an experience -- the experience of starting their own business and implementing their dreams -- will never forget how much effort it takes. The same is defending freedom, as well as defending the basic values of any normal society.

At the beginning of this address, I called the Russian war against Ukraine a predatory one -- and this is not a random word. Perhaps this is exactly what connects the Kremlin with some anti-democratic regimes in various parts of the world, such as the Iranian regime -- what makes them accomplices.

On this entire territory temporarily occupied by the Russian troops, robbery is reigning. Everything they have not destroyed, they are stealing and shipping to Russia. Everything.

Russians are stealing grain and agricultural machinery from Ukrainian farmers. The occupiers dismantle the factories and send the equipment to Russia. Warehouses, shops, and people’s homes are being looted. And they kidnap people. They see people as a resource: About two million Ukrainians were forcibly taken to Russia -- deported. The fact that Russia tried to steal the part of our land by declaring an illegal annexation is the finalization of their predatory policy.

This is why we so need your support now. Here, in Ukraine, we are defending not only independence and not only the international order. Here, in Ukraine, we are defending everything that made you; in particular, who you are. We are defending freedom and property; everyone’s right to have their dream and everyone’s duty to live according to the law; the right of every family to stay safe and the happiness of every family to be part of their community.

All this cannot be granted. All this can only be won. Global freedom has long been lacking global victories. Ukraine, together with the United States, along with our partners, is meeting this deficit.

However, we need to walk this path together until the victory. And -- when we'll be able to end this war by throwing out the occupiers -- in the same manner together we'll be able to start the difficult work of rebuilding Ukraine -- our cities, our economy, our infrastructure. It is already clear that this will be the largest economic project of our time in Europe. It is obvious that American business can become the locomotive that will once again push forward global economic growth.

We have already managed to attract attention and have cooperation with such giants of the international financial and investment world as Black Rock, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs. Such American brands as Starlink or Westinghouse have already become part of our Ukrainian way. Your brilliant defense systems -- such as HIMARS or Bradleys -- are already uniting our history of freedom with your enterprises. We are waiting for Patriots.¹ We are looking closely at Abrams.

Thousands of such examples are possible. And everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine in all sectors -- from weapons and defense to construction, from communications to agriculture, from transport to IT, from banks to medicine. And I believe that freedom must always win. And, I invite you to work with us right now.

Thanks to all American people -- from leaders to every American. God bless our countries and our heroes.

Слава Україні! [Glory to Ukraine!]

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¹ See esp. Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 Missiles

Original Text Source: president.gov.ua/en

Flag of Ukraine Source: goodfreephotos.com/ukraine/other--ukraine/flag--of--ukraine.jpg.php

Page Updated: 1/30/23

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