Almost 1000 days of rocket attacks, wailing sirens and the noise of tanks. Almost 1000 days of power cuts, collapse of heating systems and countless missed lessons. For almost 1000 days now, Putin’s war has been shaking the everyday life of Ukrainians to the core – yet not their courage and their hope of a life in safety in a free Ukraine.

They are demonstrating this huge level of resistance despite the looming threat of a third winter in a state of war. And despite the fact that the massive Russian airstrikes on the civilian infrastructure, the offensives in the Kharkiv region and in the Donbas, and North Korea’s weapon support are exacerbating the situation still further.

With his war of attrition, Putin wants to break the people in Ukraine, to bring them to their knees with every attack. By hitting them right where they should be going about their normal lives: at home, at work, at school.

We are countering this brutality with our humanity and support – not only so that the Ukrainian people can survive the winter but also so that their country can continue to exist. For they are also defending the freedom of all of us in Europe.

That is why our response to the bombing of countless power plants and power lines is our winter defence shield, which we recently reinforced with an additional 170 million euro for emergency energy assistance. That is why our response to ever increasing Russian drone attacks is our air defence initiative. At a global level we are exploring every possible option. Every single air defence system is crucial. And that is why the response to the billions in damages is that Russia will have to pay for them. As long as that does not happen, we as the G7 are supporting Ukraine with a loan of up to 50 billion US dollars, using the profits deriving from the immobilised Russian state assets.

For almost 1000 days we have been looking to the future together. Putin wanted to separate Ukraine from Europe once and for all. Almost 1000 days later, the country is closer to the EU than ever before. We are flanking its brave steps along the path of reform and encouraging the country to move forward particularly in the fight against corruption and with regard to freedom of the media.

For almost 1000 days, Ukrainians have been longing for peace. Since day one – and now more than ever – it is an unshakeable truth that Germany stands firmly by Ukraine, together with many international partners. We will continue to support the Ukrainian people as long as they need us so that they can find their way to a just peace.