Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced his new defence minister Rustem Umerov on Thursday. Zelenskyy said, “Rustom was the right person for the task.”
Saying Rustom is capable of fulfilling his tasks, Zelenskyy tweeted, “His priority tasks are to strengthen the ministry’s strategic and coordination functions for the entire defence sector, prioritize individual warriors and cut red tape, develop international cooperation and ensure Ukraine completes its NATO accession homework, and scale up the successes of specific units for all of our defence forces.”
Zelenskyy asked Rustom to ensure transparency and trust. “Trust is our main weapon in this war,” the Ukrainian president said. Introducing Rustem Umerov to key defence members, and naming his key tasks, Zelenskyy asked the ministry to prioritise soldiers, “People are not expendable,” he said. “Everything that can be digitized should be digitized. Every bureaucratic procedure that can be cancelled should be cancelled. Every item that can save the lives and health of warriors must be found and supplied to the Ukrainian army,” Zelenskyy added.
Stressing upon Ukraine’s integration into NATO, Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO. And at least on our part, we have to do everything to make sure that we are also a de jure member of NATO. It is not easy, but we must take the appropriate steps."
Asking the new minister to ensure maximum transparency in the ministry, Zelenskyy said, “Maximum transparency and maximum trust are the key to the strength of the entire sector. And this will be one of the priorities of the Minister.”
Assuming charge, Umerov said, “Ukraine will regain what belongs to it, and this time every meter and every centimetre of our land will be under the Ukrainian flag.” Umerov added, “Our plan is victory. We must do everything to bring it closer as soon as possible."
Oleksii Reznikov, the former defence minister resigned on Monday after Zelenskyy dismissed him from the post reportedly following reports of corruption in the ministry.