The President of Ukraine, Zelensky, announced that Spain and Finland will join the PURL program. He also assured that Ukraine has not used American weapons for long-range strikes against Russia. These statements were made during a press conference following the European Council summit in Brussels on October 23.
The President expressed condolences to the families of the Freedom channel journalists who were killed in Kramatorsk after the attack by the Russian Federation. Elena Gubanova and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin were killed; correspondent Oleksandr Kolychev was injured.
“A great tragedy, our condolences. Since 2022, Russia has killed 135 media representatives, solely because they were reporting the truth. About what is happening in Ukraine, about the Russian war, aggression”
– The President
Spain and Finland Join the PURL Program
Zelensky announced that Spain and Finland are joining the PURL program. In this context, he stressed the importance of the air defense system and expressed gratitude to Germany for its support. He also highlighted the role of funding and the integration of Ukrainian production into European partnership; the EU, according to the president, will continue supporting Ukraine in 2026–2027.
“Air defense systems are important for us; a lot of attention has been given to this issue. We are grateful to Germany for important decisions. Money is an important signal and pressure from the EU. We are grateful that the EU will support Ukraine in 2026–2027”
– The President
The Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, announced that the country will allocate 100 million euros to purchase American weapons for Ukraine.
Regarding Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, Zelensky noted that the country has its own capabilities at distances up to three thousand kilometers. He answered a question from a journalist, not tied to any specific media organization, stressing that Ukrainian production should be integrated into European partnership and that financing needs to be scaled up to bring production online. According to him, Ukraine has never used American long-range weapons against high-value targets, but has used them only against Russian troops on temporarily occupied territories.
The situation continues to evolve, but the main points remain relevant.