Secretary Antony J. Blinken, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy Before Their Meeting

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  It’s a big pleasure, first of all, to see you, Secretary Blinken, Secretary Lammy, your teams.  We highly appreciate for your coming.  Thank you so much that you decided to participate.  Our Crimean Platform is so important, especially this year, 80 year since Crimean Tatars been deported from their native land.  Thank you for this participation.

And of course, using this opportunity, I want to discuss with you a lot of things which – on which we count very much.  But first of all, thanks to your president, President Biden, and Congress bipartisan support.  We’re very thankful for your support, huge support.  And also we are very thankful to United Kingdom for your support.  Both your countries have been leaders of supporting from the very beginning of full-scale war.  Thank you so much.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Mr. President, thank you very, very much.  And it’s always so good to see you and to see all of our colleagues.  I’m delighted particularly to be here with David – the United States, the United Kingdom, united for Ukraine.  And not just our two countries – dozens of other countries that continue to support Ukraine’s success, Ukraine’s victory.

And we’re here to continue our work with you, to hear from you about how you see the months ahead, and what we can do to continue to strengthen our support for Ukraine going forward.  So thank you, Mr. President, for having us today.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you.

FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY:  Mr. President, it’s wonderful to be back here in Ukraine and to be here as the UK foreign secretary on this occasion, and to be here with my good friend Tony Blinken.  This is the first time in well over a decade that a secretary of state from the U.S. and a foreign secretary of the UK have traveled together, and that is to reiterate our complete support for the Ukrainian struggle.

We come here at a critical moment.  I express my deep condolences on behalf of the British people for the horrendous civilian loss of life over the last few weeks.  And we come here too where we see Russia relying on its friend Iran for ballistic missiles that would contribute to a greater loss of life here in Ukraine.

So we come in a deep spirit of friendship – at a critical moment, we understand, for Ukraine – to hear, to listen, to strategize on the coming months, with our determination that Ukraine must win this fight against Russian aggression and imperialism at this moment in time.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you so much.