Zelensky wants annual speech to be dialogue with Ukrainian people

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced his annual state of the nation address to parliament, the Rada.
"I want this message not to be a report, but our dialogue with you about the coming year," the 44-year-old said in his daily video address on Tuesday. He said it was about formulating the tasks for the future.
The speech is expected by the end of the week, but Zelensky did not give an exact date.
The Ukrainian president also reported on his meeting with the general staff. The situation in the eastern Ukrainian Donbass and especially around the small towns of Kreminna and Bakhmut was discussed, he said.
The industrial town of Bakhmut in the north of the Donetsk region has been the scene of fierce fighting for months. Outside Kreminna, a small town to the north of Bakhmut in the Luhansk region, the situation has recently come to a head. Both sides are fighting for the upper hand there.
Zelensky also reported on a conversation with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to him, Rome is currently considering the delivery of air defence systems for Ukraine.
"I believe that Italian support will allow us to strengthen the defence of Ukrainian airspace," Zelensky said.
After the victory of the right-wing alliance in Italy in the autumn, there was speculation about whether the country would stop its support for Ukraine. The coalition includes the Forza Italia party of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies in the West.