(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said this in an interview with Latvian broadcaster LSM+, Ukrinform reports.

Responding to remarks that Ukraine is launching more strikes against Russia, Shmyhal stressed that this is "very important," because, he said, only such action can force Russia to come to the negotiating table.

"We keep repeating: this war will end when Russia feels the pain of war. Right now, we are focusing on destroying Russian oil refineries and Russia's military production infrastructure. We aim to hit their key industrial facilities – those that produce drones, unmanned systems, nitrocellulose, and propellant for their weapons. And I am convinced that only that kind of pressure will force Russia to negotiate, because other arguments are not that meaningful to the Russians and personally to Putin," he said.

He stressed that Ukraine's defense is currently concentrated on ramping up production of means for deep strikes, including long-range drones, missiles, and ballistic missiles.

"This argument will bring peace to our territory," Shmyhal said.

"When we are able to produce enough missiles for deep strikes and drones to strike Russian infrastructure every night, to destroy their oil refineries and energy facilities, then they will begin negotiations to stop this war. In other words, this is a matter of increasing our production capacity. Therefore, we are calling on and pushing our partners to speed up joint production of long-range strike drones," he added.

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Shmyhal stressed that Ukrainians strongly want to end the war and that the country is moving toward diplomatic negotiations.

"I am not saying 'completely end this war,' because I am not sure that is possible with Russia. But we are ready to stop it. We are ready for an unconditional ceasefire, as proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. And now everyone can see how Russia rejects all possible ceasefire proposals. I will repeat: the main argument is deep strikes into Russian territory," he said.

Shmyhal called a strong Ukrainian army "the best guarantee of security for Ukraine," along with a package of deterrence measures that includes various deep strike means and both domestically produced drones and those supplied by partners.

"One of the most important parts of security guarantees is to preserve the combat capability of the Ukrainian army, to provide it with everything necessary, including long-range strike capabilities. That will ensure security not only for Ukraine but for all of Europe. We discussed many elements of security guarantees: political, diplomatic, military, and industrial support. All of this must be included in guarantee agreements. Right now, the main priority task is to stop the war. Then we will move on to questions of security guarantees and the diplomatic path to the peaceful return of all Ukrainian lands," Shmyhal said.

As of November 2025, Ukraine has already concluded 28 bilateral security cooperation agreements with international partners.

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