Secretary Antony J. Blinken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan Before Their Meeting

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you so much.  Secretary, please.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, I’m not sure who’s hosting.  So good to see you, all of our colleagues, and I just want to start by conveying President Biden’s strong, enduring support for Ukraine – this at a time when you continue to face an almost daily onslaught from Russia attacking infrastructure, attacking civilians.  And we see that every day, but we also see the incredible courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, the courage and resilience of your security forces.

We’re determined to sustain our support for, and we’re working very closely with Congress in order to do that.  I know our European colleagues are doing the same thing.  And it’s our determination that, even as you succeed militarily against this Russian onslaught, that you also build a Ukraine for the future, one that can stand strongly on its own two feet militarily, economically, democratically.  And you have in the United States a strong partner in helping to achieve that.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you so much, Secretary.  Thanks you and your team for your support.  Thank you very much, President Biden, his administration, bipartisan support in Congress.  You mentioned about Congress – we will count on your support, continuing your huge support, which was very necessary and still (inaudible).  We count on our partnership, your leading role in this.  And thanks for (inaudible) attacks by missile and drones.  It’s really great that we have air defense, that we have defense deterrence from United States and from other – our European friends.  It really helps people to survive in this bloody aggression from Russia.  So thank you so much that you are on our side.  Thanks for this meeting.  Thank you.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SULLIVAN:  Let me just say, Mr. President, that we have a lot of work to do together, and we are determined – working with you, with our allies, with your friends – to make sure that Russia fails and Ukraine prevails.  And we look forward to the meeting today to talk through more of the specifics for how we achieve that.  So thanks for the time.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks, everyone.