Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 13 April 2022.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak held a regular meeting of a group of Ukrainian and international experts who analyze the real impact of sanctions against Russia and make proposals to strengthen them.

At the beginning of the meeting, he noted that the McFaul-Yermak international expert group has been working for three weeks. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Office of the Head of State highly appreciate the efforts of the experts, and this area is one of the key priorities for Ukraine today.

“Our common goal is to stop the war, and for that we must defeat Russia with all possible and impossible sanctions. I know that our experts now have two pages of priority sanctions against Russia, which are proposed for the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other partners,” Andriy Yermak said.

According to him, the list includes a full embargo on crude oil and natural gas exports, additional bans on financial institutions in both Russia and Belarus, further trade barriers and customs duties, and other powerful measures.

Approaches to strengthening personal restrictions and imposing secondary sanctions are also being developed.

Andriy Yermak noted that Ukrainian experts have already proposed their part of the action plan.

Former National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, Ambassador Michael McFaul, who is the coordinator of the international expert group, said that foreign experts will provide comments and suggestions shortly.

During the meeting the parties also heard a report by White House National Security Council member Peter Harrell, who focused on the political dimension of sanctions.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 April 2022.

Ukraine will be able to repel the armed aggression of the Russian Federation if we are provided with the necessary weapons as soon as possible. This was emphasized by Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak in an interview for 60 Minutes on CBS.

According to him, first of all Ukraine needs heavy weapons, in particular artillery.

“Secondly, we need tanks, military aircraft. We need all possible weapons that will help close the Ukrainian sky,” Andriy Yermak said.

The Head of the Office of the President noted that he has a profound and detailed dialogue with the American side, and stressed that US President Joseph Biden “has done more for Ukraine than anyone else.”

“But when you’re at war – we talk about it openly – you need more. And even that is not enough – we need everything as soon as possible. If we have it in time, we will win,” Andriy Yermak said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 April 2022.

After Europe and the world saw the horrific crimes committed by Russian troops against civilians in the Kyiv and Donetsk regions, they began to help Ukraine more decisively to repel Russia’s armed aggression. Mykhailo Podolyak, Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said this in an interview for the host of the TV channel “Ukraine 24” Tygran Martyrosyan.

“In my opinion, the emotional component has already started working. Significantly. Especially after Bucha, Kramatorsk, etc. If in the beginning European countries perceived the war as a war of armies – they said that, of course, we will help with something, because Russia is much bigger than Ukraine – then after this emotional overstrain that took place in the Kyiv region and then in Kramatorsk, when people who were preparing for the evacuation were deliberately bombed, it will move Europe to even more radical action against Russia,” said Mykhailo Podolyak.

The Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President noted that long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe tried to pretend not to notice the threats and to preserve its usual way of life.

But Russia’s treacherous, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has forced all countries to reconsider their positions: some have taken the lead, and some have remained in the shadows.

Mykhailo Podolyak noted that, unfortunately, even today in some European countries there are pro-Russian sentiments, but Russia will never be a civilized state again according to moral and ethical grounds.

“You have to accept this, you have to minimize contacts with it at all levels,” Mykhailo Podolyak urged the world.

According to him, if Ukraine does not stop Russia now, Russia’s expansion will spread around the world.

“Russia, which violates global rules, will continue to invest in all kinds of terrorist organizations, and the whole European security will be threatened. Because everyone will understand that it is possible to create arbitrariness and wage wars violating the rules of war – rape people, burn them, make videos of it and show it on TV, brag about it. That’s what will happen,” he said.

Therefore, according to the Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President, Europeans must decide for themselves – to lose 1.5% of GDP today, pay a little more for utilities and lower living standards but stop the horde and return predictability to European security.

At the same time, Mykhailo Podolyak emphasized: Ukraine does not call on Europe to send its soldiers to fight alongside Ukrainians and no longer asks to close the skies. It urges to provide equipment, heavy artillery and air defense equipment.

“Give it to us, and then we, Ukrainians, will deal with it ourselves. In particular, with the Russians. And we will defend Europe in the end. And then we will count who owes what to whom and why we paid for it with so many lives of our citizens,” he said and thanked those who already have the right, pro-Ukrainian position.

The Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office is convinced that the war has shown that Ukraine is a country with a strong leadership spirit.

“A country with a really strong leadership spirit has emerged in the heart of Europe, with a strong-willed President who undertakes a more global responsibility, who offers the world to reconsider security formulas,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, adding that yesterday there were many who thought that Ukraine was a provincial country with a weak economy.

He also said that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Head of the Office of the President, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and ministers also proved that they can withstand the hits.

According to the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office, Europe and the world have begun to recognize the power of Ukraine and talk to us on an equal footing – as a country that has proven its high morale. He called the visit of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to Kyiv an example, which demonstrates the solidarity of the two nations. By his actions, Boris Johnson showed that one can be a brave politician.

“This is a symbol of the fact that Ukraine will not lose, because no one comes to those who potentially lose. And the example of Russia proves it,” Mykhailo Podolyak said.

He also stated that many leaders are already visiting our country, thus expressing solidarity with Ukraine and demonstrating faith in its victory, understanding of how rotten modern Russia is and showing that it is unacceptable for them.

They also provide practical assistance. The United Kingdom is the leader in this regard – in moderating processes and intensifying assistance, combining all programs.

“It seems to me that any visit today – and there are many of them now – emphasizes that Ukraine has become a symbol of freedom, the center of a free Europe, and that the struggle between good and evil, values of freedom and values of the totalitarian regime is concentrated here no matter how pompous it sounds. That is why everyone who comes here expresses solidarity not only with Ukraine, but also with the fact that the values of freedom, democracy, choice, competition are really important for them,” the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 April 2022.

In negotiations with the Russian Federation, Ukraine will do its utmost to end the war taking into account its national interests and to obtain reliable international guarantees to prevent such wars in the future. This was stated by Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak in an interview for the host of the TV channel “Ukraine 24” Tygran Martyrosyan.

“We have the Istanbul Communiqué, which clearly spells out Ukraine’s position. It is unchanged. We want to get a formulaic solution: both the possibility of ending the war and preventing similar wars in the future. Because today’s situation has shown that Ukraine is left alone with an expansionist empire that invests a lot of money in military technology. And if it remains more or less in its current form, in a year or two it will invade someone’s territory again,” Mykhailo Podolyak said.

According to him, even when the aggressor continues to attack Ukrainian cities, negotiations must be held, because our state must use all the tools to end the war on its own terms and with the least losses among the civilian population.

At the same time, Mykhailo Podolyak reiterated that issues related to territorial integrity and sovereignty remain inviolable for Ukraine.

The Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office noted that Ukraine’s goal is not a bilateral peace agreement with Russia, which will not fulfill it, but multilateral security guarantees that will prevent a repeat of such a war against our state.

“We want to have a specific formula that Ukraine is sitting at the negotiating table, the aggressor country – the Russian Federation is sitting at the negotiating table, and next to Ukraine are the countries that will guarantee Russia’s commitment not to attack,” he explained.

Mykhailo Podolyak noted that due to the imposed international sanctions, negative protest sentiments are already growing in Russia, and that is why the Russian authorities are forced to enter into negotiations to fix a certain current position. But the longer it delays the process, the higher the price will be for it.

According to him, Russia is now concentrating on the eastern direction – Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk – to prove to the world that it still knows how to fight.

“Because today, on the 47th day of the war, it proved to the world that it can’t fight – it can only stab,” Mykhailo Podolyak is convinced.

He noted that the Ukrainian army is ready to fight the occupiers.

“Either we or they have to gain a significant advantage on the battlefield. Only after that our positions in the negotiating group will be significantly strengthened and, of course, we will get what Ukraine needs. The negotiating team will definitely not work contrary to what is happening on the battlefield and certainly not against the way President Zelenskyy sees the whole situation, and he sees it much more clearly,” said the Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President.

In view of this, as Mykhailo Podolyak noted, it is worth waiting for the situation in eastern Ukraine to unfold in the coming weeks.

“And if we can prove once again that the Russian army is a rudiment, a useless institution, then we will have a great opportunity to prove that Russia as a state must stop dictating any conditions in the world,” said the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with an expert group working on the issue of creating a special mechanism for the judicial review and pre-trial investigation of all war crimes committed by Russian aggressors on the territory of Ukraine.

This group includes: the Head of the President’s Office, his deputies, profile ministers and chairpersons of parliamentary committees, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Supreme Court, and the chairpersons of courts of cassation.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Andriy Smyrnov reported on the readiness of the Office of the President together with relevant ministries to present a model of creating special international instruments for prosecuting Russia’s crimes against Ukraine and a mechanism of compensations for the victims. These models are ready for further discussion with Ukraine’s international partners.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the establishment of a special international military tribunal, which could provide a legal assessment of the evidence of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which is obvious. It was emphasized that the establishment of such a mechanism in no way prejudices the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, from which Ukraine expects decisions on crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The parties also discussed the issue of creating a special mechanism in the form of arbitration regarding compensation for the losses caused by Russia’s aggression to Ukraine.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 10 April 2022.

The countries’ abandonment of Russian oil will not lead to an increase in world oil prices, even if oil production does not increase significantly, which is unlikely. This was stated by Adviser to the President of Ukraine on economic issues Oleg Ustenko in an online interview for the South Korean media outlet MoneyS.

Oleg Ustenko noted that Russia’s crude oil exports have been growing steadily since the start of the war in Ukraine, reaching 4.7 million barrels last month, a record high since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Putin earns $ 1 billion a day from oil alone. European countries have even increased imports of Russian oil,” he said.

The President’s adviser pointed out that, for example, Germany now has the largest oil reserves in history and, according to the German Minister of Energy, will continue to import Russian oil.

Oleg Ustenko refuted the claim that with the introduction of the embargo on Russian oil, world oil prices will begin to rise significantly.

“The Office of the President of Ukraine conducted a simulation under the conditions that additional oil supply would not happen, which is the worst scenario. As a result, we realized that the hike in oil will become normal again, within a few weeks,” he said.

“Some European nations are concerned that inflation could happen. However, the market will undergo a rapid correction, and prices will return to acceptable levels. The reason that I believe the oil price will fall is because additional crude oil will be supplied in the market, from Latin America and the Middle East,” the Adviser to the President explained.

African countries and some countries in the Middle East have begun to prepare for increased production. It is possible that Iran and Venezuela will enter the world market with the supply of oil.

Therefore, according to Oleg Ustenko, abandoning Russia’s bloody oil is a top priority.

At the same time, he said, Russia will continue to sell its oil at a cheap price, even at half the current international oil price. And even if the West cuts imports significantly in the future, Russian oil could be bought by India and China.

However, Russia has limited opportunities to supply its oil, as its tanker fleet is quite small. Therefore, according to the President’s Adviser, the world should not help Russia in transporting energy – it should impose sanctions on Russian ports and impose an embargo on the transportation of Russian oil.

Oleg Ustenko thanked the United States for imposing an embargo on Russian oil and gas. At the same time, he hopes for additional sanctions, including a secondary boycott of Russian energy.

The President’s Adviser also thanked Seoul for supporting Ukraine, because, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently noted, the Republic of Korea sincerely feels the pain of Kyiv.

Oleg Ustenko called on the world to block the cash flow for Russian President Vladimir Putin and to stop importing bloody Russian oil and gas.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 10 April 2022.

Thanks to Ukrainian defenders in the city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, Ukraine today holds a strong position in the east and has a more confident position in negotiations with the Russian Federation. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview for the Associated Press.

“Mariupol is the heart of this war today. It beats, we fight, we are strong. If it stops beating, we will have weaker positions. These are people (defenders of Mariupol – ed.) who have made a large number of enemy troops to focus on them. The stronger our position in Mariupol, the stronger our position in the east of the country. And our positions will be stronger in the JFO area,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that this situation creates advantages for Ukraine in the negotiation process with the Russian Federation.

“If we have a weak situation in all these areas, probably there will be no meeting, because Russia will take all the steps that could lead to a return to even those places that we have now de-occupied. They can go for it. And then our situation in the negotiations will be weaker and, perhaps, even uninteresting for the Russian side,” the President said.

The Head of State is convinced that Ukrainian citizens will accept peace, because they want the war to end on the terms of Ukraine.

“I am convinced that there are people who have lost something – every family has lost something. There are people who have lost children, and I do not think that they will be satisfied with any peace on any terms at any time. Because it is a great wound and a great tragedy – to lose loved ones. But if we are not speaking emotionally, although it is difficult, we must understand that any war must end in peace or end in millions of casualties. And still, even when there are millions of casualties, everything comes to peace, to the end of the war,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

The President noted that in the current conditions it is necessary to fight for people’s lives, so it is very important to stop this war.

“It’s emotionally difficult. No one wants to negotiate with those who tortured this people,” the Head of State said, but added that the possibility of ending the war through diplomatic decisions must not be lost.

The President emphasized: “We cannot afford to decide for the millions of people who want to stop the war and say: “No, we are not ready to talk because they are murderers”.

According to the President, if Ukraine was a member of NATO, this war could have been avoided or at least its scenario could have been changed.

“We would have the shoulder of close neighbors, powerful neighbors. We could fight together. And we are sure that there would be no war after all,” the President said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the West was late in providing Ukraine with some types of weapons that could have been transferred before the death of a large number of Ukrainians, for example in Mariupol.

At the same time, according to him, some European leaders have already changed their minds and now support the supply of weapons to our country.

“I really notice it. Some European leaders have changed their position. But you see the price of these changes,” the President summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 9 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson who arrived in Kyiv.

The President thanked the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for his visit to Ukraine at a difficult time for our country.

“This visit is a manifestation of strong, significant, constant support of the United Kingdom for Ukraine. We appreciate it and will remember it,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President briefed Boris Johnson on the progress of negotiations with Russia, as well as on the importance of providing Ukraine with security guarantees.

“Peace agreements must provide a mechanism of effective guarantees for our state. We talked about this in detail today. We hope that in this process London will play a key role in achieving peace in Ukraine, it will be our common victory,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement to the media following talks with the British Prime Minister in Kyiv.

The Head of State noted that during his visit to Ukraine, Boris Johnson could see with his own eyes the losses and destruction our country has suffered as a result of Russian aggression.

“The conclusion is one and it is common – we have to put even more pressure on the Russian Federation, to put pressure with effective defense against Russia, to put strong pressure in terms of sanctions. I am grateful to the United Kingdom for continuing these powerful sanctions, constantly increasing its packages, and also helping Ukraine by strengthening our defense capabilities,” the President said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that other Western democracies should follow the example of Great Britain.

“It’s time to impose a full embargo on Russian energy, to increase the supply of all weapons to us,” he said.

The President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom identified key tasks for bilateral cooperation and coordinated further work.

“We are consolidating the maximum support for our state in strengthening the defense capabilities of our troops, in supporting our citizens both in Ukraine and abroad, in rebuilding Ukraine – we also talked about this with the Prime Minister. We will rebuild our country and our beautiful cities together,” the President said.

For his part, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom noted the courage of the people of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.

“In recent weeks, the world has found new heroes. And these are the citizens of Ukraine,” he stressed.

Boris Johnson noted that war crimes committed by the Russian army in Bucha, Irpin and other Ukrainian cities have dealt a devastating blow to the reputation of the Russian government.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom spoke in favor of providing Ukraine with comprehensive support, especially economic and military-defensive support.

Boris Johnson said that his country is willing to help Ukraine in demining territories. Together with partners it will supply equipment, the latest technology and provide intelligence data.

He also called for increasing joint economic pressure with other partners and intensifying sanctions against Russia. In particular, according to him, it is a question of influence on possibilities of the Russian Federation to use its energy resources.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 9 April 2022.

Ukraine will fight against aggression, but is ready to negotiate with Russia to end the war through diplomacy. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, answering questions from the media after negotiations with Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer in Kyiv.

“Ukraine has always said that it is ready for negotiations and will look for any ways to end the war,” the Head of State said.

At the same time, he expressed regret that a significant concentration of Russian troops in the east and south of our country is taking place in parallel with the negotiation process.

Without making predictions about possible actions of the enemy, the Head of State said that Ukraine will fight.

“Yes, the accumulation of troops continues in the east and in the south. A large number of troops, equipment, armed men who are going to occupy another part of our territories. It will be a difficult battle. We believe in our struggle, we believe in our victory. That is why we are ready to fight and at the same time look for certain ways in diplomacy that can stop this war,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

“I will tell you frankly: so far we are talking about a parallel dialogue as well,” the President added.

Commenting on the situation on the frontline, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the course of events will depend on many factors.

“It depends on our firmness. It depends on the speed of our partners in the supply of weapons. It depends on the willingness of the leader of the Russian Federation to go further. It depends on many things. First of all, everything will depend on our Armed Forces, so the most important thing is for us to be ready in any of these areas,” said the President of Ukraine.