Poroshenko at a meeting with EPP MEPs: we must stop Putin together

Petro Poroshenko, who is currently in Strasbourg, met with members of the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament and EPP President Manfred Weber. Poroshenko thanked representatives of the largest political group in the European Parliament for supporting the resolution on Ukraine. He called on European partners to put pressure on Putin to implement a ceasefire, and if that does not work, to implement ‘plan B’. 

"We must stop the war, we must set a condition that if Putin does not accept our joint transatlantic demand for a ceasefire, we must implement the so-called “plan B”. This means weapons, long-range missiles, intelligence, a hundred F-16 fighter jets in Ukrainian skies to stop Russian air superiority, and effective air defence," Poroshenko explained. 

"We cannot surpass Russia in terms of manpower. But we can definitely surpass it technologically, and we have the tools to put pressure on Putin to stop the war. Point number two is sanctions, and sanctions must be complex and transatlantic. These sanctions must deprive Russia of the ability to finance the war, must reduce Russian exports, and we know how to do this," Poroshenko said. 

"Point number three: the defence industry and joint ventures with unique Ukrainian companies give us a serious advantage over Russia and make Europe much safer. Ultimately, it will be much cheaper. Of course, we must talk about security guarantees, but after the ceasefire, because if there is a ceasefire, we can build, just as Russia did in 2023, a 30-40 kilometre deep line with fortifications, minefields, and effective tools that will not allow Russia to even think about violating the ceasefire," notes the party leader. 

"We must influence the use of frozen Russian