Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, speech at the Aspen Security Forum

“What does NATO mean for Ukrainians? It means peace, the end of the war, and development. We have already shown the world that we can operate almost all types of weapons and are ready to become part of the Alliance. Now we are focused on this.”

This is how Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, began his speech at the Aspen Security Forum. The Aspen Institute (USA), in partnership with The Aspen Institute Kyiv, conducted an interview with Mr. Umerov.

Mr. Umerov focused his speech on the need to provide Ukraine with the means to protect and strike targets on enemy territory. The minister justified each of these needs.

Minister Umerov emphasized the need to increase the number of air defense systems: “We need more air defense and missile defense systems to strike the enemy. The Russians are focusing on civilian infrastructure: hitting hospitals, schools, and other critical facilities.”

Rustem Umerov also noted that Ukraine cannot stop Russian strikes on its cities and infrastructure if it cannot strike airfields and other military targets from which Russia launches them.

“We are negotiating with international partners for permission to strike Russian military targets. We want to make it clear: we are focusing only on military targets so that the Russians cannot strike civilians in Ukraine,” he explained.

David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times, moderated the conversation.

We need to make our voices heard in the world. We need to speak about Ukraine on the international stage, convey the truth about Russian terror, and explain why supporting our country is important for the world. Therefore,  Aspen Institute Kyiv continues its international activities and calls everyone to communicate actively with foreign audiences.

The video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/live/pz2hJuk9M8k