Today, I met with young people from the countries of the Carpathian Eight. They are currently in Ukraine, in our Ivano-Frankivsk region. This is very important because the Carpathian Initiative is about the future and development, and that means young people above all. And we are designing our integration projects, including the C8, with the future of young Ukrainians in mind. We discussed Ukraine’s relations with the countries of the Carpathian macro-region and the importance of unity among us, as well as the conditions for returning home from abroad and housing support programs. I expect the Cabinet of Ministers to step up communication about all the government programs that offer favorable terms for buying a home. We need to fight to keep our young people in Ukraine while encouraging people from other countries to come here and help us rebuild and create. Thank you for the conversation!

Today, the All-Ukrainian Hand-to-Hand Combat Cup brought together 127 athletes from eleven institutions, including military formations, law enforcement agencies, and emergency services. This is an important tournament and an important sport – one that helps improve the skills of everyone who defends our country, our people, and our values. And it is especially important that this year, for the first time, there are competitions for veterans and warriors who were wounded. All of this is proof that this Cup is not just a sporting competition. It is about something more: the strength of character, the ability to rise again and keep moving forward, the resilience and will of Ukrainians that help us live and fight. I thank everyone who took part.

Today, we have already seen the second successful deployment of a new Ukrainian interceptor drone by the Security Service of Ukraine. SSU military counterintelligence personnel successfully struck a Russian Geran-5 jet-powered drone. I thank the SSU warriors for their precision. Glory to Ukraine!

I received reports from Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi. Following the change in leadership of the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, decisions are being prepared to update its management approaches and system for responding to challenges. The key priority is to scale up as widely as possible the successful practices already being used in combat brigades and by effective brigade patronage services. Scaling up the successful experience of the Defense Forces is a priority for commanders at every level. We also discussed revising the regulatory framework and approaches to recruiting foreign volunteers to serve in the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Everyone who feels that our defense of Ukraine’s independence has global significance should be given a fair opportunity to prove themselves and receive the respect they deserve. I am grateful to all the foreign volunteers who have already made a significant contribution to defending Ukraine, our independence, and our people’s right to live as people should in a sovereign state. I also approved new long-range operations in response to Russian strikes. We are preparing to expand our long-range capabilities. I also want to separately thank all our weapons developers and manufacturers, all the engineers and experts involved, who are literally working around the clock to come up with ways to counter jet-powered “shaheds.” We already have several solutions that have proven their effectiveness in real-world operations by successfully shooting down jet-powered “shaheds.” We are working to ensure their systematic deployment, consistent effectiveness in shooting down these targets, and the mass production we need. Together with the Commander-in-Chief, we also identified further priorities for active operations on the front. Glory to Ukraine!

The first summit of the Carpathian Eight, where we launched the Carpathian Integration Initiative. May the EU’s Carpathian macro-region remain strong. And may this format support us on our path to joining the European Union. I thank all the leaders of the C8 countries, businesses, and representatives of our Carpathian communities for their strong presence and for the promising projects and agreements. The potential is measured in billions of euros and mutual growth. It is important that we turn this potential into reality. We will certainly bring in additional resources and opportunities to support cross-border cooperation between communities. And the Carpathians have their own specifics here: mountain communities, and therefore mountain roads, and their own social and environmental challenges. Many of these issues can only be solved together with neighbors, and I very much expect our cooperation with neighbors to continue growing.

Report from SSU Head Oleksandr Poklad. There is a good result from the Security Service’s military counterintelligence in defending against jet-powered “shaheds.” A new interceptor drone has been developed and has already been successfully deployed. Step by step, we are moving forward to give Ukraine greater protection. I thank all the developers and manufacturers who work every day to scale up the weapons we need. Glory to Ukraine! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

When Lindsey Graham was here in Ukraine, he would always talk about how important it was not to ease pressure on Russia, to strengthen sanctions and seek a path to peace. In particular, in those capitals that choose to buy Russian oil, provide financial services to Russia, and allow Russian companies linked to Putin and the war to engage in normal business relations in other countries. Senator Graham never doubted for a second that America has enough strength to stand up to dictators and achieve results if it acts THE RIGHT WAY. I thank President Trump @POTUS for signing this critically important legislation. I thank all the senators and members of the House of Representatives who supported it. The best way to honor Lindsey’s memory will be to implement the provisions of this law fully and swiftly. And the best reward for everyone helping us put pressure on Russia to end its war will be peace. Peace – and an end to all the problems and challenges this war has brought. Peace comes through strength. Calm comes through security. And the best guarantee of security is resolve. I thank everyone who resolutely defends life! I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine! America, thank you!

Carpathian Economic Forum. Our goal is to see the Carpathian countries grow strongly in the years ahead – with more investment, stronger industries, new opportunities across the whole region. All this cooperation must bring real economic growth, real investment, and real jobs. Thank you for your work here today. Together, we will make this format strong. The Carpathian Initiative is here to stay.

President of Romania @NicusorDanRO and I took part in the first Carpathian Economic Forum. The forum also features a dedicated investment EXPO zone, where each country of the Carpathian Eight is showcasing its investment opportunities in the region. Nine Ukrainian companies are presenting projects in energy, industry, transport and logistics, and the agri-food sector. After the forum, I visited the exhibition together with President Dan. This is just the beginning, and we already have some very good results from the first summit. A large number of businesses are involved in making this happen. We already have agreements worth $1 billion. There is strong demand for investment in the Ukrainian Carpathians. The next step is investment in tourism.

All services are currently working at the site of Russia’s utterly inhumane strike on a residential apartment building in Sumy. An aerial bomb hit directly between the third and fourth floors. Four people, including a child, have already been rescued from under the rubble. As of now, we know that, sadly, two people have been killed. My condolences to all their families and loved ones. There may still be people trapped underneath. Rescuers are doing everything they can to extricate them and put out the fires. The search and rescue operation will continue for as long as necessary. There was also a strike on a clinic in Pavlohrad this evening, as well as a strike on logistics infrastructure in the Kyiv region. This is exactly what Ukraine speaks about every day: the need to stop such savage attacks on life. Right now, the United States has a chance to send the aggressor the right signal: that there will be justified pressure and that the war must come to an end. We expect Senator Lindsey Graham's bill to ultimately become law, and for its leverage to help force Russia to choose peace. Thank you to everyone who is supporting this.

For the first time, the Carpathian macro-region is presenting itself as one market with one investment portfolio. And today, more than 50 agreements worth over one billion euros are prepared for signing. And this is only the starting point. Energy makes up around half of the portfolio, and this can become one of the Carpathians’ main contributions to Europe. Solar and wind energy. Energy storage. New interconnectors. Our large underground gas storage facilities. There is also a proposed Carpathian wind cluster with 1.5 gigawatts of capacity. The Carpathians can become an energy contributor to the European Union – and not only a transit region. And this directly supports Europe’s goal of energy independence from Russia. Speech at the International Economic Forum “Carpathian Integration Initiative.”

Now, in the times of Russian aggression, the Carpathian macro-region has become one of the strongest foundations of our defense. It is about strength that is here to stay. I thank everyone who supported our Carpathian Summit. I thank everyone who is here today – with us in Huta in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. And every such visit to Ukraine, as well as your participation in joint initiatives and projects, is always about support – support for our country, our people, and our Europe in this time of war.

During the C8 Summit, I held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Poland @donaldtusk. Ukraine and Poland are strong neighbors, friends, and partners, and we have one common enemy. Today, above all, we discussed how important it is to maintain our unity and work together to stop this war. I thank Poland for its new aid package. This is an important step in supporting us, and we appreciate it. We also addressed further development of the Carpathian Initiative and the opportunities it can create for all the countries in our Carpathian macro-region. Of course, we are ready to share our experience with Poland and are open to mutually beneficial cooperation. This is how we should continue building relations between our countries.

I met with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić @avucic at the Carpathian Eight Summit. I’m grateful that Serbia has joined this format. It’s important to develop it in a way that allows each country in the region to find the economic and security opportunities it needs. We’re doing everything we can to make this happen, and today, together with the other leaders, I’ll also take part in the first Carpathian Business Forum. I discussed with Mr. President the agreements reached during my visit to Belgrade. We spoke in detail about the European integration of Ukraine and Serbia and the situation with Russian strikes. We will continue our bilateral dialogue.

During the Carpathian Eight Summit, I held a bilateral meeting with President of Romania @NicusorDanRO. I’m grateful that we have an active dialogue and meaningful cooperation between our countries. Today, we are expanding it with another dimension – a regional one, focused on our shared Carpathians. This has significant potential not only for our economies, but also for security and stronger ties between our people. We discussed the projects where we can pick up the pace and help each other. This includes SAFE and the joint production of drones, infrastructure and humanitarian issues, and, of course, security in the Black Sea region. I thank Romania for supporting the Carpathian Initiative and its consistent assistance to Ukraine.

Together with the C8 leaders, we met with media representatives. The Summit’s second, economic part later today will bring significant financial and investment agreements. Around 500 business representatives will be here. Investment and trade agreements worth €1 billion have been prepared – and this is a good start. They cover energy, logistics and infrastructure, as well as cross-sectoral agreements – and there will be more. Today alone, nearly 100 business projects from all eight Carpathian countries will be presented here, with a total value of almost €40 billion. These are projects that can genuinely benefit our countries and our shared Carpathians. We expect that over the next few years, economic growth here in the Carpathian macro-region could be twice as fast as the EU average.