So, dear friends, it’s good to see all of you! 

I apologize for not speaking Spanish, I’m still learning. So, I will be talking in English today, but I hope that we have here a distinguished group of international editors of your respected media and I hope that we can communicate in English.

Together with me online are our ambassadors in the region. I’m the Spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry and this briefing’s aim is to establish a direct dialogue between our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, between Ukraine and all of your countries. And I do really appreciate that all of you took your time to connect. So what are we going to do today? 

First of all, I will brief you very briefly about the situation in Ukraine, our peace efforts and the real dynamic on the battlefield, the threats that we have from Russian aerial strikes and some of the priorities that we have. And, of course, the path to peace. I will highlight some of Andrii Sybiha’s, our Acting Foreign Minister, about his actions and activities. But, of course, I will also cover some of our relations with the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

So, of course, our regions are separated by the ocean and some people might think that we are far apart, but we think that we are united by our principles, our shared values and fundamental historical memory. Latin America, of course, knows very well from its history the price of the struggle for sovereignty, national dignity and the right of every nation to independently determine its own future. Ukraine is going through the very same experiences today. 

I want to be very clear – the purpose of this briefing is not to tell you about Ukraine, Russia, war only or to make you choose sides in this geopolitical confrontation. This is not about this at all. We call on you for one thing – to defend the principles of the UN charter, we know that your countries share these principles. Because basically they guarantee security for every country, they guarantee inviolability of borders, sovereign  equality, the impermissibility of occupation. And these rules are needed, first and foremost, for states which are small or medium-sized and who do not want to be bullied or occupied by stronger and bigger aggressors. I think in this case we share the same view. 

Now, a few words about why Latin America and the Caribbean is important for Ukraine and what Ukraine does to deepen relations with the region. You know, that this March Minister Andrii Sybiha paid the 1st visit in 13 years to Chile and Panama – two countries in Latin America, Central America. And with Chile we recently had our embassy being more active there and there was the inauguration of the new President. So that’s why Minister Sybiha came. But this was an excellent opportunity to hold talks with many foreign ministers and officials from other Latin America countries. 

We are expanding our diplomatic presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. So, if you look at the geography and the numbers of how Ukraine expands this diplomatic presence,  basically, we’re talking about Ukraine strengthening its diplomatic footprint in the region twofold, so twice. We had 6 embassies, even 4 years ago.. 3 years ago,  and in 2025, as part of our new Foreign policy strategy of deepening ties with Latin America, we opened 3 new embassies in Panama, Dominican Republic and Ecuador. This year we are opening an embassy in Uruguay and next year planning, if everything goes well, to open 2 more embassies – Guatemala and Guyana. And you can see that basically we are expanding from 6 to 12 in just three years. This represents our interest in deepening ties with Latin American countries. 

Why this is important for us? For us it’s, of course, the first and foremost thing is political dialogue, economic cooperation, technology cooperation, deepening ties in energy, digital transformation, renewables, the participation of the businesses of your countries in the recovery of Ukraine. So, a lot of opportunities that our cooperation may bring. Plus Ukraine is an Antarctic power. So we have full, so to say, full capabilities in Antarctica – meaning the permanent base, the Vernandsky station, and our ice class vessel, Noosfera, which is working very effectively in the region. And we are offering also opportunities for international cooperation in research. We understand how important is Antarctic research for example countering the climate crisis and the threats from the change of climate. And we are offering our capabilities to share, to cooperate, to work together. Especially this is, of course, very acute for the nations of the Caribbean. And, of course, Ukraine’s push to deepen ties with Latin America and the Caribbean is reciprocal. For example we see that the support for the Ukrainian resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly is steadily growing year to year and we appreciate it.

We are grateful to all of the Latin American countries that are supporting our very fair and just resolutions in the United Nations. As an example, I will just bring to your attention that in 2025 we had a UN General Assembly resolution marking three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion. And at that point, more than a year ago, 15 countries of 33 countries of the region supported the resolution. This year, 2026, same resolution, slightly different language, but also marking the 4th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 24 of 33 countries of the region supported our resolution. We greatly welcome such an increase in political support from the countries of the region and of course we appreciate some of the statements and actions taken by regional organizations such as, for example, the Organization of American States, that has demonstrated very strong political and diplomatic support for Ukraine since 2022. And we do really appreciate the strong voice of our Latin American partners in defense of international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Again, these are not just values shared by Ukraine. These are universal values important for every country. 

Of course, we share a broad history. We have historical figures that are uniting our nations – from the legendary Miguel Rola, also known as Mykhailo Skybytskyi, the right hand of Simon Bolivar, who was of Ukrainian descent. And we are proud of this hero, who is also a hero for Latin America. Or even more recent examples such as the famous Argentine diplomat Roberto Kozak, who saved thousands of people from the prisons of the Pinochet regime. So we have a lot of history, which is a shared history for our countries. We are not building on simply the current moment. 

But we, of course, we also see the growing momentum for an interest in Ukrainian technology – Ukrainian drones. I think everyone has seen recently how Ukraine is becoming a global drone power. Minister Andrii Sybiha often uses this term because everyone sees how advanced the Ukrainian technology is. And, of course, this is not something we wanted. It’s just a matter of circumstances that we have of Russia’s full-scale invasion. We had to adapt. We had to invent new technology. And, of course, these drones are helping us on the battlefield. But they can also be used in civilian purposes – from monitoring borders, including maritime borders, by the way. Some of the countries of the region, such as Chile, for example, have a very long maritime border, which needs to be controlled, and Ukrainian technology can help with that. Other countries of the region are interested in using Ukrainian technology in agriculture. This is also something that you can benefit from.

So not only military purposes, I want to make it very clear and I’m deliberately putting forward these examples to show that our cooperation with the countries of the region can and must be mutually beneficial. We are not coming to you with an extended hand asking for support. We are coming with a hand extended proposing partnerships and these partnerships can benefit the Latin American countries, not just Ukraine.

A few last words before we turn to your questions. And I want to highlight that you can.. if you want to ask a question, you can raise the yellow hand in this Zoom conference to let our moderators know that you are interested in asking a question. We will pick you from the list. But before we come to that, I promised you to briefly brief you on the situation in Ukraine.

So, of course, we have the full-scale invasion of Russia ongoing for the 5th consecutive year. This has been extremely difficult for our people, but our people remain resilient. Our warriors keep holding the line on the front line and, moreover, recently Ukraine has largely stabilized the front line. Russian advances have slowed down this year. Ukraine successfully thwarted some of the Russian offensives that were planned for this year and the overall dynamic of the war is gradually shifting to Ukraine’s favor. I think everyone saw that.

As a matter of fact, just to show you that this is not just my statements, this is all backed by facts. Consider this: since December 2025 Ukraine is, well, I will say diplomatically, eliminating over 30,000 Russian occupiers per month. So on the front line, Russia loses – killed and wounded in action over 30,000 personnel per month. This is a staggering figure, of course, and it varies from 30 to 35, sometimes even up to 40,000. This is more than they are able to recruit and this is why you can see Russian advance is slowing down.

Furthermore, Ukraine has developed some of the very effective solutions for air defense,  especially mid-range and small range air defense. We are now intercepting up to 90 and more percent of Russian combat drones. We’re intercepting almost 90% of Russian cruise missiles and the only major problem that we have, and obstacle, and the difficulty is, of course, Russian ballistic missiles. You can see Russia intensifying its ballistic terror and, of course, Ukraine is intercepting up to, let’s say, 40%, at best, Russian ballistic missiles. This is a huge problem for us and this is why you can see President Zelenskyy is so actively working to create this antiballistic coalition and develop our own antiballistic capabilities. This is why it’s so important. Because it’s about saving human lives.

But also the number of our assets and the number of Ukrainian long-range strikes that we carry out on a daily basis has been steadily growing. And you can see, since March this year, Ukraine is carrying out more long-range strikes on legitimate military targets inside Russia than Russia strikes against Ukraine. The only problem with this is that Ukraine is striking oil refineries, defense factories, some of the logistics, military objects, while Russia is mostly targeting the civilian population. And sadly, the United Nations has recorded a 40%  increase in civilian casualties this year. This is very sad. This is tragic. And in June alone, the number of civilian casualties was over 2,000 killed and injured because of mostly Russia’s long-range strikes, which is the highest level since April 2022. So the war is unfortunately going on.

What is Ukraine’s strategy to end this war? I think everyone is interested in this and I will briefly cover this. So, Ukraine has offered since last year, as part of the American mediation in America’s peace efforts, some very simple and doable proposals for the Russians. The proposal is very simple – let’s stop combat action at the current line. So both militaries stop where they are and we start broader peace negotiations. We think this is a very realistic approach. It’s very fair. We are talking about the real situation on the ground. So both countries stop and we start meaningful negotiations. I think it doesn’t need to be repeated that it’s very difficult to conduct any meaningful negotiations while bombs are falling on the heads of the people, right? So you need to first make guns silent and then diplomats talk. We think it’s very realistic.

Unfortunately, Russia has been for almost one and a half years refusing this very simple offer and instead talking about: “Look we need to seek some other kind of deals”, or demanding Ukraine to withdraw from the regions that Ukraine still controls, but Russia wants to get for free, so to say. So putting forward all kinds of unrealistic demands. To this we propose the Russians: “Okay, you want to have a discussion on territorial issues, on other things before agreeing to a ceasefire. Okay, President Zelenskyy is ready to hold a direct meeting with Putin. He’s not against it. He’s ready for that. Any neutral country”. And there are many proposing their services, Türkiye most recently, but also some of the Gulf states, some of the neutral countries in Europe proposing their offices. We are ready for any scenario. Of course Russia’s invitation to Moscow is not serious and this is only used for Russia to, you know, try to avoid this meeting. As President Zelenskyy very witty said during his meeting with President Trump, too many Ukrainian drones there, too dangerous to come to Moscow.

But jokes aside, everyone understands that Moscow is not a serious proposal as Kyiv would not be a serious proposal if he wanted to meet with Putin. Of course, we would understand that he would not go to Kyiv to meet. But we see those proposals as simply unfortunately the leadership of Russia avoiding the meeting and avoiding a meaningful peace process. They still think that they can win on the battlefield which is a great illusion. They will not win on the battlefield and that’s the greatest obstacle to peace.

But despite of this, Ukraine pursues a very wise and very clever strategy to try to push Moscow into negotiations by working with partners to increase sanctions pressure on Moscow, to deprive Russia of the means to produce missiles, drones, and means of terror, to limit its war budget and, of course, to inflict such a pain on the battlefield and in long-range strikes on its defense industry in oil refineries as to force Moscow to the negotiating table. So this is a very simple strategy. I think everyone from you can relate to it.

I will stop at this. I will not go further not to take more time. I think already too much time. 

So let’s turn to questions. I’ll remind that we have ambassadors in this region with us. Some of the questions I understand that people do not want to ask online and they just posted in the chat, right? In the text chat. Okay, let’s start with one gentleman holding his yellow hand and I assume that he can ask in video and then we return to text questions. So please, the floor is yours. 

The gentleman in the blue jacket, I don’t see the name, please. 

Media questions

• I’d like you to know that we openly support Ukraine in the effort against the war. It is public and we are aware of all advances in the frontline such as Alexandriivka, in Zaporizhzhia and all of this was possible because of middle-range attacks with drones. So I would like to ask you two questions regarding the whole situation and the other one regarding Brazil specifically.

• You mentioned that Ukraine is open to maybe develop drone technology with other countries. But I think this is a difficult question, but could you address, could you explain to we in Latin America what is happening about Fedorov? And because what we saw in 6 months is all these political developments and trying to stop sending drones to the battlefield instead of only men. And we saw now he’s been ousted of the minister of defense and now since can be ousted too. So could you explain to Latin America what is happening and why a discuss of modernization of war is now being substituted in these changes by an old approach of Syrskyi? Syrskyi did many victories on the battlefield, especially in 2022. But people are now concerned if the changes he’s made will remain or not. This is my first question as a general one.

• My second one: we had one month ago a meeting with Brazilian President Lula and Mr. Zelenskyy. But there was no public statement on the social media statement and we, as opposition newspaper, we don’t truly believe in everything that our president says to us. So could you unveil more about that conversations between Brazil’s Lula and Mr. Zelenskyy? Thank you very much. 

Luís, thanks a lot for your kind words about support for Ukraine. I do really appreciate it and I wish people in Ukraine were as deeply into Brazilian politics and domestic affairs as you are in the Ukrainian affairs. It’s really astonishing how detailed your information is.

So, first, let me first start with the domestic situation in Ukraine. These developments, first of all, demonstrate that Ukraine remains a democratic country despite the war, despite the fact that our constitution prohibits holding elections during martial law, during wartime and we are postponing, unfortunately, elections. But Ukraine remains a democratic country deeply to its core.

So when the government takes decisions that people dislike – they protest, they voice their opposition and this is what you’re seeing in the streets of Kyiv. As you can see, the President is not ignoring the voice of the street, the people. You can see throughout the latest days that he is engaging in extensive consultations with both Mykhailo Fedorov, who is his long-standing ally, and also the leadership of the army, of our various army commanders. So, I am confident that the way out will be found of this.. the current situation. Sometimes emotions.. they do take hold and sometimes people have, you know, conflicts. Sometimes these conflicts become public, but this is part of the democratic life. We will surely go through this and we will come out of this stronger. What I can assure you is that Ukraine’s technology innovation, which you see on the front line and which helps us deter Russian aggression, will continue regardless of any developments. Because this is a matter of our survival. We did not become technologically advanced and innovative only because we have a reformer Minister Fedorov, who really made a great job since 2022 as Digital Transformation Minister and then Minister of Defense, but because our people needed to survive, that we have no other option.

So I’m very confident that this innovation will continue. Plus, of course, Ukraine is undergoing a deep reform of the army and some of the approaches are outdated. Yes, they need to be changed. We are talking about this very openly. We’re not, you know, hiding from these facts. We are not Russians, because I think this is one of the big differences. We are not swiping our problems under the rug as they do. We discuss them openly. Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it brings some very difficult turbulences, which are very difficult during the war, believe me. But we will, I’m confident, find a way out.

Now on Lula-Zelenskyy and Brazil’s engagement – we think that Brazil can play a serious role in peace efforts in various formats including, because you have a dialogue with Russia. In the past years, we have seen a number of occasions when the Brazilian leadership called for a ceasefire, for example, and we appreciate it, because we need a ceasefire. And if Brazil adheres to this principle, which was by the way laid out in the Brazilian-Chinese declaration, we remember this declaration. And the main goal was to establish a ceasefire. If this position remains the same for Brazil, we would appreciate if, again, Brazil made it clear to Russia that it’s time to end the war and agree for a fair, longlasting, unconditional ceasefire with Ukraine and then continue discussing all outstanding issues.

As to the meeting in June 2026, when our presidents met – I can confirm that the meeting really took place. You can trust or distrust your leader, but the meeting took place. The fact that the message was put out on the social media does not devaluate or depreciate the meeting itself. It happened. It was a constructive dialogue and discussion. We are very happy that this meeting happened. The President discussed peace efforts, first and foremost. This was the primary focus of their discussion. Some of Ukraine’s engagement with partners. Yes, they discussed this as well. And they also spoke about the necessity to continue contacts between Ukraine and Brazil on all levels. We appreciate that President Lula expressed support for achieving peace and we appreciate this message and he said that Brazil would sustain its efforts on its part in this peace process. So, we have a really practical value in maintaining this direct channel. I will reiterate that our invitation for Brazilian leaders and high level officials to visit Ukraine remains open. Minister Sybiha invited Minister Vieira to come to Ukraine as well. We would be most happy to see him come to Ukraine. 

From the Latin American region not many countries have visited Ukraine at the leadership level. You know this was Guatemala in 2022, the previous President. And this year the leader of Honduras just recently came to Ukraine. We think it’s a great example to follow, because, again, Ukraine proposes a variety of beneficial partnerships – from advanced technology to agriculture energy and others – plus the participation of your businesses in the recovery of Ukraine, which is a multi-year multi-billion dollar projects and those who come earlier will have the most benefits. So, I would say that Honduras is making a very smart move by engaging with Ukraine earlier, because it will reap most of the benefits and we expect other countries of the region to follow. The earlier you engage with Ukraine, the more benefits you will get. And we don’t ask for much. We would simply appreciate more attention and countries visiting leaders and politicians visiting Ukraine. That’s all.

Speaking of a more broader context, I think it’s important not only for Brazil, but for other countries. Many countries of Latin America are now looking for alternatives to major global powers – the United States, China, the European Union, some others, mostly the United States and China. We know that you’re looking for beneficial alternatives. Ukraine is a great alternative. It’s a great alternative. So, you’re not siding with great powers. You’re developing cooperation with a single specific country that has a lot of things to offer and for a mutual benefit. Plus, Ukraine is going to become a member of the European Union. So if you come to Ukraine now, if your businesses come to work in Ukraine now, even despite the war, and this is possible, believe me, you will benefit. Because later you will work with a country, which is part of the European Union. So this is also an important perspective to keep in mind for the countries of the region.

Okay, let’s proceed. I see another gentleman with the raised hand, but I don’t see your name. Yeah, I guess, I think you guessed it right. Andrea Bonzo, sorry, Infobae, please. The floor is yours. 

• Thank you very much for your time. So, my first question is about the situation in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. What’s the current situation there? And  is there a risk of a nuclear incident? 

• And also I would like to ask you if there is a time framework for Milei's visit in Ukraine and what would you expect eventually from this visit? Thank you very much.

 Yes, thanks a lot. So first, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. I understand that this risk of an incident there raises a lot of concern around the world  and understandably we are as worried about possible incidents in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as you are, and we're trying our best to prevent them. At this current stage the station and its all six blocks six reactors are in a shutdown mode, so the station is not working. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the first precedent in the history of humankind when the nuclear power plant, especially, of this size, has been occupied by a military force and turned into a basically a military base which is very very dangerous. We know that Russia tries to legitimize its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and it tries to reconnect it to the Russian grid, basically, if you allow to hijack a nuclear power plant. No one in the history of humankind again ever did this and this is extremely dangerous. 

No technical procedure, no technical algorithm, supports such a risky adventurous move. And we are trying very hard to prevent Russia from doing these experiments. It's enough that it's turning the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into a military base, stationing military equipment there. And from time to time firing from the station across the Dnipro River into the Ukrainian cities. So this all is unacceptable and it violates basically all seven pillars of the International Atomic Energy Agency. So we're working with IAEA to prevent some of those risks. 

We would really appreciate if the countries of the region, Latin American countries, could raise their voice against nuclear threats and nuclear blackmail by Russia. We know that for the region, for the Latin American and the Caribbean, the issue of nuclear safety is of utmost importance. You have one of the most progressive treaties, Tlatelolco Treaty, that regulates the non-nuclear status of the region and the peaceful, you know, utilization of atomic energy. We think that you have a say, you have an authoritative voice to use and say look this is unacceptable, both the threats that are posed to Ukraine's nuclear facilities and Russia's nuclear rhetoric by the way which we hear from time to time, this is completely unacceptable. It will not hear this message, I mean Moscow will not hear this message properly from the United States or Europe, but believe me, it will hear it from your region and some of your authoritative countries from China, from India because they rely on on your voices and of course it will be for them this will make a difference. So I really encourage all of your countries to raise your voice, this is not about siding with Ukraine - this is about principles, if you protect those principles, please speak up, we would really really appreciate it. And our position, just to end on this point, remains very clear. We are confident that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant belongs to Ukraine, this is Ukrainian property. It must be demilitarized immediately and returned to its rightful owner, Ukraine. This is the only way to ensure its safety and prevent the risk of nuclear incidents as long as it's in the hands of the occupier, we cannot have a full guarantee that we will not face a really devastating nuclear incident there. 

So now to your question about President Milei. We appreciate his support and he has been very vocal in supporting Ukraine. The invitation for him to visit Ukraine remains open, President Zelenskyy  invited him. So when President Milei finds time and opportunity to visit Ukraine, we would be most happy to welcome him here and um have a very extensive again discussion on how we can develop the cooperation between our countries. So the invitation remains very very much open. Thanks. 

We will now proceed to the gentleman in the other yellow hand. I think this is, wait a minute Nahuel González from BILAT am I right? Yeah the floor is yours.

Thank you, sir. I didn't hear very well every word that you said because

the connection is not very good. But as far as I understood, correct me if I'm wrong. 

• First question was about Ukraine's as a security provider, right? So how do we use this role? 

• The second one was about security guarantees. Which security guarantees is Ukraine seeking to get? 

• And the third one was -  Trump and his decision to provide Ukraine with the license to produce Patriot missile. Right. Correct. Okay.

So first of all, you're absolutely right that Ukraine's role in international fora is changing and you can especially it has started changing some time ago but I think everyone realized that this year. When Ukraine first and foremost contributed to the security of  the Gulf states when Iran started its relentless attacks against the Gulf States. Ukraine was the country that offered not only, the words of solidarity but also some very practical support and came to protect life and help those countries protect life. I think at that point many countries  around the world many actors realized that Ukraine is not simply a country begging for donations going around the world and asking for support. Ukraine has changed, Ukraine's role has changed and Ukraine is as much a security partner and provider as much as it's needs

of course the international support. 

We are working as a diplomatic service, Minister Sybiha, all of our diplomats are working very hard to cement this role, to turn it into Ukrainian foreign policy tool. And of course the greatest asset that we have is drone deals that we are proposing to countries around the world which is a framework deal for 10 years developing security cooperation. So mutually beneficial, Ukraine shares its expertise, its knowledge, helps a certain country develop its own capabilities based on Ukrainian experience and in return of course receives some other types of support mutually beneficial and long-term. What's important in this security drone deal is that  people around the world including in Latin America need to understand that  it's not enough to have a Ukrainian drone.

You can right now hear um air alert, around the capital of Ukraine where we are speaking with you. A pretty usual sound for Ukrainians these days unfortunately and the sound means that there is an aerial threat for Kyiv either a Russian drone or maybe Russian missiles. Unfortunately our people got used to this, our children can differentiate between the sounds of ballistic and cruise missiles. This is a very tragic situation, but unfortunately this is part of Ukraine's reality. I will ask my team to inform if we have a serious threat then we will have to  go to the basement but unless the threat is a mild or middle threat so to say we will remain working. 

It's a drone. Okay, I'm told it's a drone. So, we will for now we will continue the briefing and I hope that Ukraine's air defense that I advertised so much in the beginning is really working the way. So, I'm really now backing my words with reality. I hope that it's really intercepting 90% plus of the drones and we can continue to safely talk with you. 

Okay. So the drone deal I think the one important thing that you need to understand is that Ukraine is not only offering to sell drones to a certain country because we are now opening  a controlled export of our weapons of our equipment. But this is not only about selling drones and if your country or any other country even buys a Ukrainian drone it will not be able to use it. Why? Because to use it, you need sensors, radars, control centers, special software, data from the battlefield, our specialists, our experience so, you need the whole system. And Ukraine's uniqueness is that we have the whole system, we have the whole experience. So the drone deal what it ensures is that we have a long-term, 10 years, and more cooperation where a country working with us gets the full system and we get in exchange what the other other parts of the defense cooperation let's keep it vague. I think it's important to explain it's not only about an expert or some other, Ukraine has some very unique added value in this. 

Now to security guarantees I will be very brief. I think the best security guarantee for Ukraine is Ukraine joining NATO. I understand that there are different perspectives on this but for our country this is a strategic perspective because this is the collective defense  organization that for us in Europe would ensure our protection. But we understand that it takes time,at the moment there is no full consensus in NATO about you know taking Ukraine inside. So for now we are relying on our own strengths on our army, on our defense industry, on our warriors. This is the realistic thing that we rely on. 

Of course, we're working on security partnerships and we would like to see, of course, security guarantees. Even if we don't get a NATO membership, we can work on security guarantees with certain countries. You have seen dialogue between Ukraine and the United States on bilateral security guarantees. And this dialogue is still alive and still working. We need those guarantees to be legally binding, ratified and serious guarantees because in our past we had some very bitter experiences with Budapest memorandum and other papers that did not really work and protect us from aggression. So we will not be fooled again, we need some very strong serious guarantees. Plus you probably also heard news about the coalition of the willing a format in which countries are discussing post ceasefire or postwar guarantees how to ensure that when combat stops the peace is lasting and this is the very essence of this discussions. So various countries can contribute in various ways. Some of them are basically ready to send their contingents so boots on the ground to ensure that the peace is lasting. We would welcome this but of course we understand that they are ready to do this after a lasting ceasefire. We are not yet there but we are working to prepare all of the infrastructure for the moment when this becomes possible. 

And the last question about Trump and license to produce Patriots. This is a major and very welcome development for us. We worked on this for years and years and years, and we do really hope that we can expand this cooperation very quickly. Ukraine needs it very fast, I cannot tell you the specific, you know, date or term when we will start producing Patriot missiles. But I can only say that we want to do this as soon as possible because for us this is about human lives. This all of the delays and all of the you know all of the gap that we have between us not having and us having ballistic protection is measured unfortunately in human lives. And this is what we're telling to our partners that every delay costs human lives, unfortunately. Only a few countries around the world have a license to produce those missiles and Ukraine is joining this club and I think this is very important not only as a military technical fact but also as a political and geopolitical fact. Because it shows that the United States trusts Ukraine, trusts Ukraine's defense industry, the ability to keep technology and expand the production of these technologies. It's very important, I think this is a signal for all countries around the world that you can and need to work closely with Ukraine on defense matters. 

Let's proceed. And I see a few more hands. Hannia Novell I'm told. Yes. Okay. The floor is

yours. Thank you.

• How much will help Ukraine to hold out because I understand that surrender is not an option. 

Yes, you are absolutely right. Surrender is not an option for our people because if you look back and in 2022 and recall what the Ukrainians saw in the liberated territories when we liberated our key region and some other territories when we came there we saw a pure horror a complete horror. Genocidal killings of civilians tied with their hands be behind their back, women raped and burned their bodies burned, children raped and torture chambers across the cities. That is what we found in the occupied territories of Ukraine. This is this is tragic that we saw there. So for our people and for our nation, this is an existential war, a war of survival, we have no other choice, we have no other country to go to, we only have our own country. And that is why we want Russia to return to its borders and live in its own country and leave us alone and let us live in our country peacefully. We never pose any threat to Russia and we just want to live peacefully in our country nothing more than that. 

So for us yes this is the capitulation or surrendering as you say is not an option. Plus the reality on the ground has changed. Russia wanted to destroy and ruin Ukraine in a few days or few weeks, but here we are 4 and a half years later. Ukraine is not only not surrendering, we are effectively returning the war back to back home, back to where it came from, back to Russia. And probably Putin promised the Russian citizens that they will watch war on TV as a you know amusement, as a fun broadcast. But this is not the way it goes, the war returns fairly to where it came from. And this is why we're telling the Russians, look the reality has changed, Ukraine is not the Ukraine you faced in 2022. So it's better to take a wise decision, stop the hostilities now, end the senseless murder no one needs it, and Russia will not achieve anything. Okay, it can lose 1 million more people and occupy, I don't know some additional kilometers for what? What will it change for Russia? And why people in Russia benefit from Russia occupying one more village in the Donbas? This is absurd so our position is very clear let's stop, let's stop where we are.

Now to Mexico's leadership coming to Ukraine pretty much open invitation and we would be happy to see them here. We would welcome them with open hearts with warm embrace and with perspectives for mutually beneficial cooperations. We think it would be a very wise thing to do to come here, see everything with their own eyes, make their own conclusions and again look at some of other countries of the region. They are benefiting from working closer with Ukraine this is no longer about just supporting our country. This is about some benefits that you get in exchange. I hope I covered it. 

Let's proceed. We have some other people here, Brenda Estefan from REFORMA.

• Russia was recently claimed that Ukraine has ties with Mexican cartels. I wrote a piece about it and how it's a disinformation strategy that to influence the US perspective on Ukraine. Do you see this as a pattern in other regions? Have you identified any other situation where you could compare it to the space in Mexico? 

• And the second one is how would you describe the current relationship between Kyiv and Washington? And has it changed recently due to the advances of Ukraine in the military field?

Yes, we can see that Russian propaganda makes Mexico one of its primary targets. So if you look at where and we are, believe me, we are monitoring very closely Russian disinformation, the resources they put into it, the priorities they make, the countries they prioritize and unfortunately we can see that Mexico is top of their list where they try to manipulate the public opinion. Last year or it was two years ago I don't remember clearly but we all saw how  RT the Russian state broadcaster tried to aggressively expand its presence in Mexico including some of the installations in public and the broadcast and the advertisement. So

we think that I mean we are of course party to the conflict and it's I think very obvious what we will say about this but I just want the Mexican public to be very cleareyed about Russia's attempts to manipulate it and pour in enormous resources to its manipulation and disinformation. They are doing this for the reason and you don't need to be manipulated. I think and Mexican people are more than this and higher than this than to be manipulated this way. 

We refute or I can officially refute the accusations that you mentioned about Ukraine's weapons and or technologies getting to organized crime. As far as I understand you were asking about this, right? They're spreading this manipulation not only in Mexico and some other countries as well. Ukraine and its partners have a three layer extensive system of controlling every piece of weapon that Ukraine possesses. Russia has tried to create this sort of disinformation that Ukraine's weapons are being smuggled. They're getting somewhere and so on so forth. They have been refuted every time by Ukraine and its partners. So this is simply not true. If any credible evidence is there, we're open, please list those facts. I mean law enforcement or any other government institutions, we are absolutely open to looking into the cases because we are confident that no such process takes place. 

What's even more absurd is that we can see actually Russian weapons getting to Latin America to organized crime and some of the gangs and some of the illegal groups that are using it and unlike their accusations this corresponds with the facts. We know that some of these weapons come through Africa and end up Russian weapons in organized crime in Latin America. And this of course just shows that Russia brings destabilization and chaos to every region it gets to. And probably yes, the point of this disinformation is very simple. You accuse others of what you are doing yourself. And then the accusations against you are kind of you know on the same footing word against word but they are doing the same. That's what they're saying. But they're doing the same, you know, if they're if they get caught. But again I officially refute that any such thing has happened. And believe me, if at least some of this information was true, I would not be so easily refuting it and just saying that this is a complete lie. 

Now to the relationship between Kyiv and Washington. Yeah, I would support your statement that we can see that this dialogue is transforming actively. If you compare 2025 and 2026 there is progress there is more interest in working with Ukraine in the defense sphere and we think that we are a partner that can bring a lot of expertise and added value to our partnership. This is again not just Ukraine asking for donations or support. Of course, we need international support, but this is not the only one way, it's a two-way, two-way street for sure. But Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy had a very good meeting in Ankara at the NATO summit, a very long one, extensive. You saw a very long press conference and unlike the press conference in the Oval Office in March or in the beginning of 2025 that one was much more soft, successful for every side and luckily it ended up only in positive emotions unlike the oval office meeting. And the presidents even joked about this and you can see yes the deepening relationship. 

To be honest I think also the administration and the Americans they just realized that Putin has been lying to them all the time. He has been saying that look we are going to destroy Ukraine in a few weeks, we are going to occupy Donbas in a few weeks, it's a matter of you know we can click our fingers and Ukraine will vanish, so you need to push Ukraine to some unacceptable concessions and the war will be over.

And the Americans for some time they just heard this message from the Russians. But then time passed one year after another and they just realized this is all a lie and I think this made them change their position, that's all, because the lie cannot work forever. I hope I covered it.

Let's proceed to the next questions and if my colleagues can help me  pick up one because I see your I see your hands but I don't see your names. Which one? Christine. Christina of course our Chilean correspondent Christina, please the floor is yours.

• Hello. I would like to ask you about Crimea, the current situation there and the perspective of actually isolated Crimea.

You can see Ukraine's campaign of strikes on legitimate military targets in Crimea and around Crimea. Crimea has always been, remains and will be the territory of Ukraine despite Russia's attempts to annex it. This is not me saying this is international law and 143 states in the United Nations General Assembly supporting this view. The goal of Ukrainian campaign that you are seeing right now is to make military activity in Crimea for Russia unbearable. So basically what we are saying is that we will make it impossible for the occupier to remain in Crimea. This is what we can do right now. Of course you all understand that the territory of occupied Ukraine is pretty big and you would need a lot of forces to deoccupy it. But Ukraine is using whatever advantage it has, whatever asymmetric advantage that it has to make the presence of occupier on our land unbearable. That's what we are doing in Crimea.

Crimea is also key to the security of the wider region. I think it's important to notice that it's not only about Ukraine versus Russia. It's about the security of the Black Sea region, and just recently for example we had the Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan visiting, standing in this same place and giving press conference and Türkiye is very clear about its stance that Crimea is Ukraine and the territorial integrity of Ukraine needs to be respected. So we can already see how many problems we bring to Russian occupiers in Crimea, and I can assure you that they will only have more problems in the future, which again underlines the point that they would better start negotiating instead of fighting. 

Homero Mendizábal if I'm not wrong, please, the floor is yours. Yes. 

Thank you very much from Bolivia. I have two question. 

• How has Ukraine respond to the new government in Bolivia? Is there any expectation of improving the relation considering that Russia has like during the last 20 years? 

• And the second question is that Russia is well known for the lack of transparency in the recruitment practice you know which use mercenaries you know we were recruited with lies. How this system refer from the official recruitment channels by Ukraine. I'm asking this because last week the Russian embassy in Bolivia claimed without any evidence that Bolivian citizens that had died while fighting on Ukrainian side. Can you refute this statement?

We congratulated President Paz, and we really expect our relations to develop during his tenure. We are really interested in mutually beneficial cooperation with Bolivia, and you are right: we need to change the trend that was there for decades, because our relations have unfortunately been neglected for decades. I think we have just lost too many opportunities in the past. It’s time to use those opportunities again. Ukraine can bring a lot of benefits to Bolivia.

And we would very much be interested in—I really want the leadership in Bolivia to hear our message and our position from Ukraine—that we are open to cooperation and we are open to contacts, for calls, for visits. Please. We are most open to this.

Now, to the Russian accusations. First of all, you’re absolutely right. We can see that because Russia is, as I said in my opening remarks, losing more than 30,000+ occupiers per month on the battlefield, killed and wounded in action. They lack manpower, which is, you know, a surprising thing for Russia, because they have always had seemingly unlimited manpower. But thanks to our drones, we have deprived them of this advantage, and they are losing 30,000+ occupiers per month, which means that they increasingly turn to recruiting foreign mercenaries across Africa first and foremost, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. So you’re not unique here. They are trying this across the world. They often treat those mercenaries as expendables. The logic is very simple. For a Russian soldier, you are responsible. When a Russian soldier is killed, you need to make payments to the family and so on and so forth. For a foreign mercenary, you can basically avoid any responsibility. So they treat those foreign mercenaries as expendables.

We have a whole public earthquake across Africa over Russia’s illegal recruitment schemes, because country after country Africa is exposing how Russia is, you know, manipulating especially young people into combat. In this sense, I, of course, want to warn the Bolivian public: be very, very vigilant and cautious when approached with any offers of study, work, or anything else in Russia, because most probably you will end up not at a job or an educational facilities – you will end up on the frontline through various manipulations.

Sometimes Russia is manipulating foreign citizens who are already in Russia into signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense and fighting for the Russians. So we see all of that.

I can give you some numbers. We know. I mean only the registered cases. Of course, the number is bigger. But the cases we have documented in Ukraine involving nationals of Latin American countries in the ranks of the Russian army currently stands at 1,595 nationals of Latin American countries in the ranks of the Russian army. Of this number 89 have already been killed and 22 went prisoners of war. I need to remind that Ukraine is adhering to international humanitarian law, to the Geneva Convention. So, of course, every prisoner of war is provided with medical treatment, with appropriate treatment as such. And, of course, the officials and diplomats and consuls of those countries can have access to their nationals if they are established in Ukraine’s prisoner of war camps. But this problem will only be growing, unfortunately, and we need to combine forces here with your NGOs, with your governments together to try to prevent Russian illegal recruiting into its aggression, into its forces. This war is not Latin America’s war. In this I would, you know, agree with those who are saying this is not your war, but in the sense that your people do not need to be engaged in fighting for Russia. This is a colonial war of aggression that, I’m sure, no Latin American national should have anything to do with. And sorry, I missed — I think you had another question. Did I miss another one? No, probably I covered it. Let’s continue to Vanessa. Vanessa Lopez, the floor is yours. Yeah, just turn on the mic. 

• Thank you for the opportunity. My question is: how do you describe the current relationship between Ecuador and Ukraine?

Yeah, I think we lost signal, but I managed to hear. To describe the relationship between Ukraine and Ecuador, right?  This is a growing and prospective relationship, because we have just opened an embassy in Ecuador last year, meaning that Ukraine prioritizes your country. 

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We just have just opened the embassy in Ecuador, meaning that Ukraine prioritizes Ecuador — it’s one of the countries where we see most of the perspectives, and we do hope that our embassy at the new level, new stage of our relationship, can bring mutual benefit. Again, all the spheres of cooperation – from energy to renewables, education, digital services, technology, economy, trade, investment, participation of your businesses in Ukraine’s recovery. So please, we are open for developing those relations and capitalizing on our new embassy in your beautiful country.

Let’s continue. Maybe Sara Perez, I see your hand. But switch on the mic, please. 

• Sorry. Yeah. Thanks. You said that Brazil can play a role — an important role in the talks with Russia. So what I want to know is what President Lula can talk to help Ukraine in this negotiation ending the war.

I will repeat: President Lula is taking a neutral stance — we understand this, but we think that his long-standing position that a ceasefire is the first step toward peace, and an unconditional ceasefire is the beginning of talks, we support this position. So if President Lula can reiterate this position to Putin, whom he knows for many, many years, we think that would help. Yes. And there have been already — he already tried, we shouldn’t say this is something new, but if he makes this call again, this would be most appreciated, and we think that this can already help. And again, this is not about taking the side of Ukraine. This is about taking the side of the principles of the United Nations Charter, of international law, of territorial integrity and sovereignty. 

And for Putin, this is again — even for Putin, this is the only reasonable step to take. His losses are unsustainable. His economy will only get worse. And I mean the only rational thing to do is to stop this war immediately. And we would appreciate, again, President Lula and Brazil playing a role here.

Let’s continue. I think we’ve covered all of the hands, but I will answer some of the questions in the chat, and we will be wrapping up because we are already talking for more than an hour. Luckily, no Russian drone has hit us yet. So, let’s wrap up with a few last questions and we’ll say goodbye. 

• Do you think Latin American countries are being truly independent in their response to the war in Ukraine, or are they avoiding a clear stance for political reasons?

Laura is asking this question. Look, we respect Latin American countries’ right to take a balanced, neutral stance. We do not want to put any of your countries in the situation when you need to choose Ukraine or Russia, or side Ukraine or Russia. We understand that you have your own traditions of neutrality, you have your own stances, we respect that.

But in our view, this is what we seek from your countries is stance in support of international law, of the UN Charter, because we share it. We share it, you and us — nothing more than that. We realize that, for example, we are not getting the military support, for example, from the countries of the region. But there are so much more than military support that your countries can make. Humanitarian efforts, support our effort to return our children stolen by Russia, for example. You all heard about this topic. Russia has forcibly deported more than 20,000 of Ukrainian children, trying to russify them, adopt them into Russian families, change their identities. This is a tragedy for our country, and your region understands. Some of your countries are very sensible, by the way, to this, because you have your own history.

So here, for example this is not about military support or something purely humanitarian effort — please join, support us. Some of the countries of the region, such as Costa Rica, but also some others, have joined the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children. You can do that, and many other steps. So yes, we would like to see more of this engagement, but I’m not criticizing, I understand that every country has its own right to its own stance.

• Recently Ukraine sent drone and air defense specialists to the Middle East, to cooperate with countries in the region, particularly in the Gulf, that have been subjected to attacks by Iran. With how many countries is Ukraine cooperating, and how does this work operate?

So, we are practically cooperating with all of the Gulf countries, with some of them we concluded drone deals, with others we are still in progress. But our cooperation does not limit to the Middle East and Europe. We are expanding our agreements and plans of cooperation to wider Middle East - Asia, some countries in Africa, and we are also ready to expand it to Latin America. If your countries are interested, again, reach out and we’ll see how we can cooperate. 

• What do you think about the role of the United Nations? There are four Latin American candidates for the secretary-general position. Which is Ukrainian official position on this race?

Look, this is a very heated debate. Let it stay behind diplomatic scenes for now, and I will not limit Ukraine’s diplomatic maneuver at this point. We follow this with great interest. We understand that the stakes are very high and the emotions are very high. But let me remain a diplomat here. 

The role of the United Nations. Look, the United Nations is, I will be very clear, in my opinion it’s in a very deep crisis, but we do not have any other United Nations, and people can criticize the United Nations every year, and for a reason. But when September comes, they all go to New York to stand at that rostrum and deliver their speeches, which means that they still respect the United Nations and they still need it.

So, I think our goal is to reform the United Nations so that it represents the international community better. We think that the current composition of the Security Council is unfair. It does not represent the African continent the way it should, the Latin American continent the way it should, and some other regions the way it should. So Ukraine supports the expansion and a more fair presence, including your region, in the United Nations, because this would represent the reality in the world right now. The world is not bipolar anymore, it’s not unipolar, it’s different. So the reality in the United Nations should represent that, and we support these types of reforms of the United Nations.

• The current state of relations with the Argentine government?

I think I covered it already. 

• How would you describe the current relationship between Ecuador and Ukraine?

Covered this as well. 

• Do you think Latin American countries are being truly independent? 

I covered this. Scroll, scroll. Yes. 

Interested in Ukraine — yes, Rafael Grossi’s candidacy, I will remain a diplomat for now.

• Chile — areas of cooperation, Ukraine and Chile. In the coming years, Ukrainian media reported the arrest of a 39-year-old Chilean citizen fighting for Ukraine, following accusations that he killed two Colombians inside a vehicle on June 31st in Mykolaiv. Any further details?

This is.. I am not aware of this specific case, but I promise you, Camilo, to Camilo Suazo, to your question we will look into the case deeper and come back to you with a text statement, because I’m not aware of this specific incident. 

But I can reiterate that Ukraine, unlike Russia, has rule of law, and it has protection for military personnel as well. We have, for example, a Ukrainian military ombudsman – or rather, ombudswoman Olha Reshetylova – a special position in the government, a person protecting human rights in the military. So whenever there are issues, problems, incidents, even criminal acts — this happens, unfortunately, sometimes this happens — there are law enforcement, rule of law, and ombudsmen who can help deal with those cases. And Ukraine addresses the problems it has, the cases it has. 

• Several cases of Bolivians recruited to fight against the Russian invasion. How many Bolivians joined the fight for Ukraine since the war began, and how many have died?

Look, this is an important topic that has not been covered in the question, so I will reply to this one by Freddy Poma Fernandez, but take it broader. Ukraine is not carrying out recruiting, like targeted recruiting campaigns, in Latin American countries, because there are so many speculations about this — I want to refute this once and for all. 

Yes, it is true that Ukraine accepts foreign nationals who want to fight for Ukraine on a voluntary basis. If a foreign national wants to join the Ukrainian defense forces and fight alongside us, to protect our country, to protect the principles, freedom around the world — they are allowed to do so. 

When they sign a contract with our defense forces, they become regular soldiers inside our terrestrial forces. They are not mercenaries in any shape or form. It is basically even incorrect to call them such, because they become regular soldiers of our army. They receive regular payment, the same as Ukrainian soldiers, and they enjoy all of the rights that Ukrainian citizens enjoy in the Ukrainian forces. We appreciate those people who chose this voluntarily and came to protect freedom together with us, side by side. We will always remember their fit, their choice, and we will always be grateful to their families, to their friends and loved ones. I just want to say a very sincere thank you to those people.

But it’s important to note that sometimes people ask what’s the difference between Russia and Ukraine. Russia recruits foreign nationals, and Ukraine recruits foreign nationals. No, friends. This is a completely different situation. Why? Because, first and foremost, Russia is targeting, uses targeting vulnerable people who need.. who either have problems with documents in Russia, or they are looking for, you know, jobs, or they are insecure, and they’re trying to lure them into the Russian forces. 

With Ukraine, we are not carrying out any targeted campaigns. We accept those foreign nationals who want to join, but we never target especially vulnerable groups. And plus, those who make those parallels, they are also wrong. Because Russia is an aggressor state, and Ukraine defends itself according to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

And we think that it is basically incorrect to put Ukraine and Russia on the same footing. When you join the Russian forces, you join an occupation army, and you come to occupy a sovereign land, and you become part of an aggression against the sovereign land. When you join voluntarily Ukraine’s defense forces, you become part of the forces who protect life and protect people from aggression, protect people from terror, and defend the sovereign country against aggression. 

So, I discourage any types of comparisons which put Russia and Ukraine on the same footing here. And again, even with cases.. because there have been, I admit, have been cases when foreign nationals blamed or accused Ukrainian authorities of mistreatment or something — every such case is addressed in Ukraine, again, is a legal state with rule of law, with military ombudsmen. So whenever there is a problem, we address it. I think this is.. you cannot avoid all of the problems that a foreign national can have in Ukraine as part of our defense forces, but you can address them, and we are addressing them diligently, and we will continue to do so, and again, we’re open for this. two last questions and we wrap up because I'm sure you have other things to do today.

• The German ambassador in Moscow, Lambsdorff, said that people in Russia talk of a second general Russia mobilization after the Duma election in September. What is the lecture and information about this topic?

Look, we see that Putin does not want to end his war despite not achieving any goals on the battlefield. So we watch very closely what he is going to do, and we cannot exclude any scenario, including a scenario of Russia deciding to go for another wave of mobilization. We think that Russian society needs to be aware of this, and they need to be more vocal in stopping their leadership from this criminal war. Ukraine does not have any other choice rather than to resist and try to force Russia to the negotiating table. So we will continue resisting under any scenario.

• Could you reiterate how Ukraine views relationship with Honduras under President Asfura’s administration?

Minister Sybiha has just published an extensive essay op-ed in Honduras media, expanding on how mutually beneficial our relationship with Honduras is. And I have already mentioned that President Asfura’s visit to Ukraine is a historic one. He’s the first leader since the Guatemalan leader in 2022 who came to Ukraine personally, to see everything with his own eyes, to hold direct talks with President Zelenskyy, and unlock all of the potential in technology, energy, renewables, recovery of Ukraine, participation of Honduras businesses in the recovery of Ukraine. So, a lot of benefits for Honduras and its businesses and its people in this cooperation. And we think he’s carrying out a very smart policy that other countries of the region need to look up to. Yes. And again, I will repeat the same thing I said earlier: the earlier you engage with Ukraine, the more benefit you will reap. So do not waste time.

• Is the Ukrainian government considering appointing a new ambassador to Brazil later this year?

Very good question. I do hope that we will have a strong ambassador in Brazil as soon as possible. The delay with a candidate is because Brazil is a major power and a very important partner for us, and the process of selecting a candidate takes time, because you need a strong candidate — you cannot just pick anyone for this role.

But at the same time, we have a functioning embassy in Brazil, a very active one, and a great team working there. So kudos to our colleagues in Brazil and the chargé d’affaires, who is very active. So, even while we are waiting for an ambassador, our work in Brazil continues. But hopefully.. I do hope that we will find an appropriate strong candidate and have a proper diplomatic presence in Brazil.

Friends, with this we covered all of the questions. I do really appreciate all of you taking this time. We had one and a half hours of a very fruitful discussion. I can assure you that we will continue such direct dialogues, because I really love to talk to you, answer your questions — difficult ones, easy ones, any questions. We’re a democratic country, we’re open for any type of dialogue. And I do appreciate all of you covering Ukraine. We understand that for your region, Ukraine is not very close geographically, but the reason you’re interested is because probably something very important happens here, and the outcomes of this war will shape the global security architecture for decades to come. So you’re absolutely right to follow this topic, and we are always open for you.

I can also invite all of you to come to Ukraine, if you’re interested. We’re holding press tours from time to time — next year we will have another press tour. So look, if you’re interested in coming, seeing everything with your own eyes, contact our embassies and stay in touch with us — we will be most happy to see you here. If you come before that, on your own initiative, reach out to me, and I will help you establish contacts with officials, prepare some interviews, have access to our defense forces, to our defense industry, if you’re interested, to some of the stories of people, and any type of facilitation that I can propose I will be happy to propose to you. So you can rely on the Foreign Ministry, on me, on our diplomats as your allies in covering and reporting fact-based information, this is what we can offer on our side.

So again, thank you all for joining, and I wish you have a fruitful day today. Thank you!