Poroshenko spoke at the EPP Political Assembly: We must win the war with Russia, the war against populism, and the war for democracy.

Petro Poroshenko addressed the Political Assembly of the European People’s Party, currently underway in Vilnius. The fifth President called on European partners to accelerate the transition of their economies to a war footing and to utilize Ukraine’s experience in countering Russian aggression.

“For three and a half years, we’ve been learning to live under Russian ballistic missiles. And this surprised Putin, because he thought it would break us. Russian troops, Russian missiles—no, they didn’t break us. Mathematically, we had no chance of survival. But war isn’t about mathematics. War is about fighting spirit,” Poroshenko said.

“We should never grant a veto. The European Union must be sovereign and responsible, including taking responsibility for its own security. And we, Ukrainians, are ready to actively participate in this process. We are ready to send military advisers and combat generals to your governments who have unique experience in how to fight Russia now, what weapons, what strategy, what technologies to use, and how to effectively use defense industry funds. We, Ukrainians, want to help you shift your economic and military focus,” Poroshenko noted.

“Russia spends over 40% of its vast budget on war. Our request to the Baltic states, Scandinavia, and Germany is to add 0.5% to the Ukrainian military industry. This would be responsible behavior, including the use of frozen Russian assets. We must also be more decisive in this area, because the war is already here,” the fifth President stated.

“We need weapons and ammunition, and we’re launching joint production. We need drones, missiles, and counter-drone systems. We know how to produce them, and we have unique and positive experience. We need defense—not outdated, but modern and effective. We need protection for our energy grids, diversification, and decentralization of our energy system. We know how to do it. And we need sanctions against Russia. Hellish sanctions,” the party leader emphasized.

“We’ve already learned to live without Russian gas. And we must learn to live without Russian oil and Russian nuclear energy. Including the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Europe, Hungary, and Slovakia through Ukrainian territory. We must learn to live without this. And we must learn to live without Russia,” Poroshenko urged.

We will never return to Russian influence. And we need to become a NATO member state, no matter who is in Washington, Paris, or anywhere else. Because without Ukraine’s membership in NATO, there can be no sustainable security on the continent. Believe me, there simply is no other form of security guarantee other than NATO. Bilateral security guarantees don’t work because bilateral security guarantees concern weapons, money, and the defense industry, but not security. Security is “boots on the ground.” This means that in the event of aggression, soldiers from all over NATO must be side by side to defend against the aggressor. But this is not included in bilateral security guarantees. To do this, we need to be adults, we need to be responsible. That’s why we need to be anti-populist victors. And that’s precisely why we need to win this war against Putin together,” Petro Poroshenko concluded.

The European People’s Party ( EPP) is the largest political group in the European Union, comprising 82 parties and partners from 43 countries, the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Parliament, 20 heads of state and government from the EU and non-EU countries, nine members of the European Commission, and the largest group in the European Parliament. The European Solidarity party officially joined the EPP in 2019, and on 10 March 2023, EPP received associate member status.