Remarks by Vice President Harris and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in Joint Press Conference | Munich, Germany

"Good afternoon, everyone.

President Zelenskyy, it was my honor to meet with you again. This is our fifth meeting, by my count. And our first meeting was here almost exactly two years ago.

I want to thank you for all that you have done and all that you are as a leader. You and I have had many conversations. And it is my honor to say, as part of a public conversation, that you have been an extraordinarily courageous leader and have shown you commitment to the Ukrainian people and to democratic principles, including the most important -- one of the most important -- which is the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

So, it is good to see you again.

I was in Munich and have been here to talk about where we stand currently in terms of our relationship to the Ukrainian people and our unyielding commitment, on behalf of the United States, to the Ukrainian people and to their sovereignty, to their freedom.

Five years -- five -- two years ago when I was here, it was to foreshadow the Russian playbook for the world and to outline the steps the United States, along with our allies and partners, would take in response to their aggression.

And I shared with the President then -- President Zelenskyy -- that the United States stands with Ukraine, and we have been proud to stand with Ukraine over the last two years. And President Joe Biden and I will continue to stand with Ukraine, as I said yesterday and as we say every day.

Yesterday, we received reports that Aleksey Navalny died in Russia.

I met with his wife, Yulia, yesterday, and expressed my outrage and sorrow.

In this fight and -- I will say that Aleksey Navalny has been a brave leader who stood up against corruption and autocracy, and he stood up for the truth.

The reports of his death are further proof of Putin's brutality. It reminds us why our support for Ukraine is so important, because Ukraine is fighting back heroically against Putin's continued brutality.

In Munich two years ago, many thought Kyiv would fall in a matter of days. Yet, thanks to the skill and bravery of the people of Ukraine and the support of the 50-nation coalition the United States has led, Kyiv stands free and strong.

President Zelenskyy, that is a testament, as I have said, to your extraordinary leadership and the determination of the people of Ukraine and their willingness to fight for their homes and their homeland, for their freedom and their independence.

In this fight, Ukraine has achieved significant success against an adversary on an imperialistic quest to subjugate your nation -- an adversary with an economy 10 times larger than Ukraine, a population 3 times larger, and a military that once ranked as the second best in the world.

You have stood strong in the face of Russia's advances and countered its aerial assaults.

You have regained half the territory Russia controlled at the start of this conflict.

You have inflicted major damage on Russia's fleet in the Black Sea and maintained the flow of grain to world markets.

You have kept heat and electricity on in the face of incon- -- unconscionable attacks on civilian infrastructure.

And you have made a range of reforms that will help accelerate Ukraine's integration with the West.

Because of our collective strength, this war has been an utter failure for Putin.

President Zelenskyy, the stakes of your fight remain high for your country and for the entire world. And it is in the strategic interest of the United States to continue our support.

International rules and norms are on the line, including the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

History shows us: If we allow an aggressor like Putin to take land with impunity, they keep going. The other would-be aggressors then become emboldened.

On this trip to Munich, I have worked with our allies and partners to ensure we stay united and strong in support of Ukraine.

Today, President Zelenskyy, you and I had a productive conversation about ongoing support from the United States and the international community, and we spoke of our support for Ukraine on the battlefield.

As I said yesterday, you have the support of bipartisan majorities in both houses of the United States Congress.

So, as we move forward, the President and I -- President Biden and I will continue to work to secure the resources and weapons that you need to succeed. We also will continue to support your efforts to secure a just and lasting peace. We will work to make sure Russia pays damages to Ukraine. And ultimately, we want to see Ukraine emerge from this war as a nation that is free, democratic, and independent.

President Zelenskyy, as President Joe Biden and have -- and I have made clear, we will be with you for as long as it takes.

I thank you again. And thanks --

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

I'll start. As I made very clear yesterday, the issue of supporting Ukraine and where the United States stands on that issue is integral to who we are as the United States of America.

We have historically and currently stand as a global leader on certain fundamental democratic principles, including the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We stand with our friends. Our membership in NATO has been a role that is about a commitment to our allies based on shared principles of what it means to abide by democratic principles that have historically ensured stability and security for those participating in this partnership.

As I made very clear yesterday, when we talk about the role of America, as it relates to our support for Ukraine, we must be unwavering and we cannot play political games. Political gamesmanship has no role to play in what is fundamentally about the significance of standing with an ally as it endures an unprovoked aggression.

Politics should play no role in standing for the fact that Vladimir Putin, through his leadership of Russia, has shown himself to be fundamentally hostile to democratic principles, not to mention what we learned about in the last 24 hours in terms of the killing of Navalny.

So, this is about where we stand as a nation. And as it relates to the supplemental, we have been clear, the President and I, both in private conversations with members of the United States Congress and in public. We are clear and certain that for the majority in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, there is bipartisan support for this approach. There is bipartisan support for what America is and what we stand for.

And we are unwavering. And that has nothing to do with an election cycle. It has to do with who we are and what kind of country we want to be: one that stands with our friends.

President Zelenskyy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

There is only plan A, which is to ensure that Ukraine receives what it needs. I will emphasize that an indication of where we can and, frankly, must be is that there is bipartisan support in both of our houses of Congress, on the Senate side and the House of Representatives. And it is my full belief that were the supplemental package and security package to make it to the floor of the House of Representatives, that it would actually pass.

I also believe that there is consensus across party lines in the United States Congress that recognizes the -- the brutal nature of Moscow's aggression, and that there must be a response that includes standing by our friends and supporting those who fight against that aggression.

And I do believe there is consensus within the United States Congress that the American leadership, elected leaders in the United States Congress must be unified in their opposition to Russia's aggression, as indicated over the course of the last two-plus years and the last 24 hours.

And I do believe also there is consensus within the United States Congress that we must use everything that is available to us to support Ukraine in its fight to become and to maintain itself as an independent and democratic nation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, all. Thank you."

Source