Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 5 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the issue of the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea should not be tied to the negotiation process with Russia to end the war and withdraw Russian troops from the territories of our state where they entered starting from February 24. This was stated by the President in an interview to the Ukrainian media.

He is convinced that resolving all issues in a package and thus ending the war with Russia is difficult and unlikely. Especially when there are tanks on our territory, rockets hit our cities, when there are difficult situations in blocked cities, such as Mariupol.

“Russia has its own vision of Donbas, and Ukraine has its own. So I had a simple suggestion. I believe that we will not be able to agree on all points at once. This is impossible, even if we have negotiations,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Responding to calls for the military liberation of all temporarily occupied territories, the President stressed that one of the most powerful groups of Ukrainian troops are fighting in Donbas, in the Joint Forces Operation area. They oppose the enemy, which significantly outnumbers them. And if you give them the command to go on the offensive now, it will cost thousands of lives.

“Our state needs a strong army. And if we want to lose the most powerful, most experienced people because “I want it now” we must understand that they will return to us (enemy forces – ed.), and not in two or three years, but in the same month. All the military know and think about it. This is a very serious story,” he explained.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that there is indeed a concentration of Russian troops in Donbas, and Ukraine is well aware of the goal and possible plans of the Russian Federation.

“Donbas, and the south of Ukraine, and the corridor to Crimea, and the Kherson region, and the Zaporizhzhia region… We basically understand what they are doing. In order for them to succeed, they will fight for Donbas. And Mariupol is a life for us, a city, and for them it is a “medal” that they want to hang on their chests,” he said.

The President noted that today the deoccupation of Mariupol by military means is very difficult. And its defenders, who are fighting in extremely difficult conditions, know this very well.

“We are in touch almost every day. It is difficult for them. They are very strong. It’s true. And it is difficult for different people in different ways. There are their wounded or dead brothers-in-arms. They would like their parents to receive the bodies of the dead, and they would like us to have an opportunity to take out the wounded,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to him, there is an agreement on this issue with Turkey, which is ready to transport the wounded and killed in Mariupol from Berdyansk.

“We have all the infrastructure ready to take out the wounded and dead. We are waiting for Putin’s approval. I talked to Erdoğan, Erdoğan talks to him. And now this moment depends on him. If we succeed, we will see the result in the coming days. If it fails, we will know for sure that the President of the Russian Federation personally does not give such an opportunity. Although everyone is putting pressure from different sides, because it is considered a humanitarian step,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The Head of State also rejected the possibility of returning the occupied Crimea by force. The President explained that Ukraine’s proposals in negotiations with Russia on Crimea do not mean that the topic of deoccupation of the peninsula will not be raised for 10-15 years. On the contrary, according to him, the agreement should stipulate that during this period the parties must resolve the issue of Crimea through diplomacy.

“The proposed format is not to solve it now, but to solve it at least tomorrow, during this period. I think this is not a bad decision. But I think so now. Today, if there were such agreements on Crimea, I believe this would be a victory for Ukraine,” the President said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 5 April 2022.

The central government has made great efforts to ensure that the heads of regional state administrations form joint teams with mayors and representatives of law enforcement agencies at the local level, and this has significantly strengthened the defensive position of our state. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview to the Ukrainian media.

“We must openly say that we were all working on it. Strongly, with calls, with screams. However, these teams have emerged. And their cities can be proud of them today, and there are no questions to them,” the Head of State said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that some mayors failed to demonstrate resilience during the war, but thanks to teamwork, they returned to full duty.

“We united these teams, many mayors came to their senses and started working in three or four days. And then they said: sorry, we were really just not ready. We talked in a human way, today everything is fine,” he said.

The President noted that many heads of regional state administrations have now become professional “war managers”.

“No head of the regional state administration ran anywhere. Honestly, I don’t think we had such a staffing approach. But it turned out that these people are just powerful. And they are all on the ground, all heads of regional state administrations,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to the Head of State, some leaders of territorial communities have shown themselves to be strong and courageous people and even gave their lives for our homeland.

“Unfortunately, we lost several of them. They were killed. They were tortured. After the war, we will sit down and at the regional level will tell how many calls with such people we had, how many things happened as it was. How they deceived the enemy, it was daily. “Several times we “buried” these people, took them out, then brought them in so that they could appear in the squares as a symbol for the people that they are there,” the President said.

He stressed that the mayors had become “flag people” who supported the inhabitants of the communities during the difficult times of the war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that many business representatives also stayed in Ukraine and supported citizens and the military on a volunteer basis.

“I am very grateful to all these people, no matter what business they represent – small, medium, large. All the same, they are doing great,” the Head of State said.

However, he noted that there were also entrepreneurs who went abroad allegedly for the sake of one or another activity, allegedly for the sake of Ukraine.

According to the Head of State, Ukrainian oligarchs also showed various qualities during the war.

“They behaved differently. We will draw conclusions when we win. Someone suddenly became a hero, and someone ceased to be a strong man,” the President concluded.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 5 April 2022.

Despite all the crimes committed by the Russian army against civilians in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine must continue negotiations with the Russian Federation, as other Ukrainian cities are under occupation, where civilians are also blocked. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview for the Ukrainian media.

The Head of State noted that after exposing the crimes of the occupiers in Bucha, Irpin and other towns in the Kyiv region and realizing the scale of the tragedy, both Ukrainian authorities and citizens will see as a challenge even the possibility of negotiations with the aggressor, not to mention their content.

“Everyone understands that what they did is unforgivable. We need to know that,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

Nevertheless, according to the President, it is necessary to find strength and continue negotiations.

“Every such tragedy, every such Bucha will just make it harder as regards any negotiations. And here we still need to find opportunities for such steps. We want to have a stronger position at these talks,” he said, noting that the support of Ukrainian society, which is also a powerful weapon, is important here.

According to the Head of State, the authorities should take into account not only the positions of the Armed Forces, but also those people who were blocked in places of active hostilities and temporarily occupied settlements. Then there will be no question of whether someone wants negotiations or not – the question of their necessity and the strength of the parties at the negotiating table arises.

“Just saying today that we will not talk about anything anymore is the easiest position. The easiest thing to say is that I will not talk to you, and it is clear why, after what you have done. The most difficult thing is to say what they did, to recognize them as enemies, to know that this is specifically Russia’s war against Ukraine. Admit it all. We believe that this is genocide, we believe that they must all be punished. But we have to find opportunities to meet. And at the meeting to find a way out of this situation and at the same time not to lose our territory,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

Regarding the prosecution of all those involved in crimes against civilians in Ukraine, the President assured that the state is already working on it.

“We will definitely do that. Relevant lists will be compiled. We live in a civilized world, and therefore there is an order that will be ensured in accordance with law and international law. The day before yesterday, we agreed to set up a joint commission with the European Union,” the President said.

He said that he had discussed this issue with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, whose visit to Kyiv is expected in the near future.

“Prosecutors of different states, a joint commission will deal with all these crimes. There is a separate case of ours against these criminals who tortured our people. We are starting to gather this information. We will look for all these people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.

To clarify how Ukraine will ensure that the killers are prosecuted, the President said that the commission has already been established, the Prosecutor General and a representative of the President’s Office will join its work.

“I do not see any more mechanisms. I believe that the internal Ukrainian mechanism, which my colleagues and I started talking about, will be very effective, because there are people who really want to find these criminals. I think we will find the right format. If international law does not resolve this issue, Ukrainian law will find a way out of this difficult situation, of this tragedy,” he said.

The Head of State also predicts that the amount of evidence and testimony about crimes committed by the Russian army against civilians will increase, as the liberation of other temporarily occupied cities of Ukraine is ahead.

“There will be no fewer of them, because Izyum is still ahead, there are many things we have no access to. Occupied Melitopol, Berdyansk. We have no idea what happened there. We’ll find this procedure. There will be an action plan. There are no secrets here, because we openly say: we will do it. It doesn’t make sense to keep secret how we will find these people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 April 2022.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak is convinced that today no one has any doubts that the Ukrainian state is a full-fledged part of Europe and deserves to be at the center of an effective European security system. He said this in an interview for Natalia Moseichuk on 1+1 TV channel.

“I believe that there is no adequate person who is not convinced that Ukraine is part of Europe, a democratic world and today is actually a fortress, which protects not only itself but all the values of the democratic world,” said Andriy Yermak.

He noted that today tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Berlin, Paris and other cities in Europe and the world having already made their choice regarding their attitude towards our country.

The Head of the President’s Office is convinced that 14 years ago at the NATO summit in Bucharest, a very big historical mistake was made when specific Allied countries and specific leaders started a game with Russia.

“Then it was possible to make a historic decision that could have prevented this heinous war, but it did not happen,” he said.

Andriy Yermak is convinced that today Ukraine, which has been directly holding back one of the world’s largest armies for more than a month, could strengthen any alliance.

“But we need it today – not tomorrow. There is no time. Otherwise we will build a new system. Today we are not just knocking on the door. Today we simply demand, we deserve it – to be at the center of the security system of our region, Europe,” said the Head of the President’s Office.

He noted that now the priority for Ukraine is to end the war and create a new security system in the world, because the effectiveness of the existing one is doubted.

Andriy Yermak noted that Ukraine will never consider any compromises concerning independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“It is unacceptable for us. And there is a position of the state that today Ukraine must return to internationally recognized borders,” he said.

According to the Head of the President’s Office, there are issues that need to be resolved in the negotiations now: the withdrawal of Russian troops and the return to the situation as of February 23, 2022, so that these are truly full-fledged talks – not under the gun.

At the same time, the issues with the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea also need to be resolved.

“These are separate issues that should also be the subject of negotiations today, and they are the subject of negotiations,” Andriy Yermak said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 April 2022.

The crimes committed by the Russian military against civilians in the Ukrainian cities of Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and other settlements in the Kyiv region are genocide of the Ukrainian people. This was emphasized by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak in an interview for Natalia Moseichuk on 1+1 TV channel.

According to him, the true scale of the crimes of Russian troops in the occupied suburbs of the capital can be estimated when full information is available. But it is clear that this cannot be compared to the massacre in Srebrenica, one of the largest war crimes in modern European history committed during the 1995 Bosnian war.

“It’s a completely different story. One nuclear power attacked a non-nuclear power. This is Russia’s war against Ukraine, so I would not make such comparisons. But in terms of horror and absolutely inhuman treatment it’s real genocide, one hundred percent,” he said.

Andriy Yermak said that every day he communicates with his colleagues – political advisers in the United States, Germany, Great Britain and other countries and informs them in detail and provides photo evidence of the crimes of the Russian occupiers against Ukrainians.

“Shock reaction. I am convinced that they should feel what all Ukrainians feel today. Because the decisions we expect depend on many of them,” he said.

Answering the question whether he has received calls from any Russians apologizing for what their country is doing to Ukraine, the Head of the President’s Office said: “They must apologize to the entire Ukrainian people. But I don’t think it will be accepted today. And this is for many, many years. There is no excuse for what we see today, what we feel. And, unfortunately, all this continues – we have not stopped this war yet.”

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 April 2022.

Peace in Ukraine is impossible without victory, and victory can be achieved through diplomacy in parallel with the fighting of the Ukrainian army. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a conversation with international and Ukrainian journalists in Bucha, Kyiv region.

The Head of State noted that the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Russia met in Turkey, but the meeting ended in vain. He stressed that the delay in the negotiation process by Russia will have negative consequences for this country.

“Every day, when our troops come in and deoccupy certain territories, you see what is happening. It’s very difficult to talk when you see what they’ve done here. Every day people are found there in barrels, in cellars, strangled, tortured. Therefore, we believe that if they have something to think with, they need to think faster,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

The President expressed conviction that peace would be established in Ukraine in any case, because our modern European country cannot live in war.

“We strive for peace, we deserve it. And these people showed it, and the Armed Forces showed it. Peace is impossible without victory. Victory can be achieved in a diplomatic format in parallel with the fighting steps of our army. Our army demonstrates its fighting steps on a daily basis, but it is not easy. We do not want to lose millions of people. That is why there should be dialogue,” the Head of State said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 April 2022.

The restoration of Ukrainian cities will begin immediately after their liberation from the Russian occupiers. A plan for Ukraine’s economic revival has already been prepared. This was announced byHead of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak in an interview for Natalia Moseichuk on 1+1 TV channel.

“The President already has a plan for economic revival on the table. We do not waste a single day, we are thinking and getting ready as regards how we can start today. I think that the reconstruction of cities will begin immediately after their release,” Andriy Yermak said.

He noted the great unity of the country that is observed now: Ukraine is no longer divided into west and east or on the basis of language.

“Today we are really making history – the history of a great nation, a great country,” said the Head of the President’s Office.

Therefore, according to him, all the negative phenomena, such as corruption, excessive bureaucracy and bloated state apparatus, should remain in the past. The Ukrainian economy must become human-centered, and the state must guarantee justice.

“We will rebuild the cities. The worst thing is that we will not bring back the people who were killed. There is nothing more precious than human life. And we will rebuild everything else, we will rebuild it quickly,” Andriy Yermak is convinced.

The Head of the President’s Office also supported the idea of creating a large memorial to honor all those whom Ukraine lost in this war with the Russian occupier.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 4 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the city of Bucha in the Kyiv region, where mass killings of civilians took place during the occupation by Russian troops.

The Head of State visited the humanitarian aid center and talked to local residents.

Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk told the President about the humanitarian situation in the city, the progress of the search for the bodies of the dead, the assessment of the damage caused by the occupiers to private and communal property, and the pace of reconstruction of the city.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Anatoliy Fedoruk with the Order of Courage of the III Degree.

The Head of State also spoke with international and Ukrainian journalists who came to Bucha to document Russia’s war crimes.

“It is very important for us that journalists are here. We want you to show the world what was happening here, what the Russian military was doing, what the Russian Federation was doing in peaceful Ukraine,” the President said, addressing the media.

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, what the Russian occupiers did to this modern town is genocide.

“These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide. We are aware of thousands of people killed and tortured, with their limbs cut off. Raped women, murdered children. I believe this is genocide,” the President said.

In addition, the President watched the road with destroyed equipment of the Russian army, as well as the destroyed bridge across the Irpin River on the M-06 Kyiv – Chop highway.

The President noted that part of the bridge over the Irpin River will be repaired and opened in a few months.

Preparations for the construction of a temporary crossing have now begun. It will be opened in about two weeks, said Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to him, full-fledged movement of one passage of the bridge can be started in two months, both passages – in three or four months.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also visited the destroyed bridge over the Irpin River on the R-30 highway. It will take ten days to build a temporary crossing here, and a full-fledged repair will take two to three months.

 

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 3 April 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved a decision to create a special mechanism of justice in Ukraine to investigate and prosecute every crime of the Russian occupiers in our country.

“The essence of this mechanism is the joint work of national and international experts: investigators, prosecutors and judges. This mechanism will help Ukraine and the world bring to concrete justice those who unleashed or in any way participated in this terrible war against the Ukrainian people and in crimes against our people,” the Head of State informed

According to the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Police, the Security Service, intelligence and other structures within their competence must make every effort to ensure that this mechanism works immediately.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called on all Ukrainian citizens and friends of Ukraine in the world to join this work and help establish justice.

“The world has already seen many war crimes. At different times. On different continents. But it is time to do everything possible to make the war crimes of the Russian military the last manifestation of such evil on earth. Everyone guilty of such crimes will be included in a special Book of Torturers, will be found and punished,” the President noted.

In addition, the Head of State noted that all partners of Ukraine will be informed in detail about what was happening in the temporarily occupied territory of our state.

“War crimes in Bucha and other cities during the Russian occupation will also be considered by the UN Security Council on Tuesday,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 2 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the economic blocs of the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers.

The parties discussed the state of the Ukrainian economy in the second month of our country’s resistance to Russia’s military invasion, as well as considered forecasts for its development in the near future.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the Ukrainian state spends about $ 10 billion a month on hostilities. The sources of expenditure financing were discussed at the meeting, including own tax revenues and assistance from Ukraine’s international partners. In the same context, the prospects for the transition to a simplified taxation system scheduled for April were touched upon.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the sowing campaign, in particular the provision of fuel to farmers. Ways to diversify fuel imports and protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from Russian military bombing were discussed.