Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 21 April 2022.

Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine can be finished with direct negotiations between the two heads of state, and the Ukrainian side’s position in these negotiations must be strong, well-thought-out and legally sound. This was stated by Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak during the United News TV marathon.

“This is what the team of lawyers, consultants and the negotiating group from the Ukrainian side are working on today. Accordingly, we hope that the positions of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be extremely strong in these talks,” he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak expressed conviction that the Head of the Ukrainian state will be able to convey key, fundamental things for Ukraine to the counterpart from the aggressor country during the talks.

At the same time, according to the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office, we need to wait for the situation in the east of our country to develop and assess how substantive the offensive fervor shown by the Russian side will be.

“They have enough resources, enough missiles, they unfortunately continue to bomb our cities. They still have manpower and equipment that they do not mind destroying in our fields. Therefore, let’s wait a while, and then we will be able to talk about the positions of the parties, first of all the President of Ukraine, at future bilateral meetings,” Mykhailo Podolyak said.

According to him, in the next week and a half it will be clear how things will develop.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine have no choice but to gain tactical victories in the east of the country today. It is fundamentally important for us to remain free, not live in the camp,” said Mykhailo Podolyak adding that, unfortunately, the Ukrainian servicemen are paying a high price for this – giving their lives.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

Ukraine is ready to resolve the issue of unblocking Mariupol and evacuating civilians through diplomacy, but Russia has not yet shown readiness to take such a step. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with media representatives after talks with President of the European Council Charles Michel in Kyiv.

“The situation in Mariupol is deteriorating. Unfortunately, so far we cannot achieve a positive result there. Our warriors have hundreds of wounded. Protecting ordinary civilians with their backs, they lose their lives. Because, as far as I know, there are about a thousand civilians behind our guys in Mariupol, including children and women,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The Head of State stressed that Ukraine constantly offers the Russian side options for organizing humanitarian corridors. Some of them worked.

“Tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated from Mariupol thanks to this work. Unfortunately, several thousand people believed the Russian occupiers and went to the occupied parts of our state, as well as to the Russian Federation. And we do not know the fate of these thousands of peaceful people,” he said.

According to the President, there are two ways to unblock Mariupol. The first is to provide substantial assistance to the Ukrainian military with heavy weapons. The defenders of the city, who are not going to surrender to the enemy, hope for this option. But so far Ukraine does not have enough equipment to work in this direction, the President said.

“The second way is diplomatic, and so far Russia does not agree to that. No matter what public signals they come out with, saying they are open, ready to exchange. Or, as they say, “the ball is on our court” (Ukraine’s court – ed.) – they do not know what they are playing. Or vice versa – they continue to play,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President stated that Ukraine is ready for various formats of exchanging its people for the Russian military.

“And we are ready for the sake of our people – both military and civilian – for any format of exchange. And whether I like it or not, in the course of the remaining three years that the people have given me, I am ready to hold a dialogue with the President of Russia on the end of the war,” said the Ukrainian President.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

The European Union must maximize sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation and provide Ukraine with all the necessary modern weapons to help our country win the war that Russia is shamefully waging against it. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with media representatives following talks with European Council President Charles Michel in Kyiv.

The President thanked the EU senior official for his personal support and this visit, which took place despite all security challenges. He noted that Charles Michel visited the village of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region and could see the atrocities of the Russian occupiers.

“We understand that Russia seeks to destroy the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian statehood. And this is a real genocide. We see that Russia does not stop in its bloody desire to destroy Ukrainians and our state at any cost, women, children, our defenseless civilian population,” he said.

The President said that Ukraine and the EU had agreed to work closely together to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian military.

“I am convinced that by joint efforts we will be able to bring to justice all those guilty. And we will find everyone for sure, I promise you that,” the Head of State said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that the timing of arms supplies has become clearer.

“European partners have made a significant contribution to our military capabilities. I am grateful for the allocation of 1.5 billion euros within the European Peace Fund to finance the military needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said.

According to the Head of State, it was agreed to use these funds as efficiently as possible so that Ukraine would receive exactly the weapons it needs now.

“Not all, but those that are a top priority for us now. Not all, but those that we do not have. These are very important nuances. Timely and what is needed,” the President stressed.

Speaking about the strengthening of sanctions against Russia, he noted that the sixth powerful sanctions package should be approved as soon as possible depriving Russia of the opportunity to finance the war.

“We are grateful for the EU’s five sanctions packages. But, unfortunately, some things have not been completed by these sanctions, they need to be analyzed in more detail and implemented. It is still not enough to stop the financing of this war by the Russian Federation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

In particular, according to him, Ukraine calls for a full energy embargo on Russia, including oil and gas imports.

“Oil must definitely be included in the sixth package. We believe that without it the package will not be powerful, it will be empty,” the President stressed.

The Head of State noted that it is also necessary to finally disconnect all Russian banks from SWIFT, including Sberbank and Gazprombank. It is necessary to block all accounts of the Russian state and companies, directing these funds to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Every Russian civil servant and their family must feel the effects of sanctions and the consequences of their personal support for the war against Ukraine.

For his part, Charles Michel is convinced that Russia must be held accountable for the war crimes and atrocities it has committed in the occupied Ukrainian cities. He also spoke in favor of helping Ukraine document the crimes of the invaders to ensure justice.

The President of the European Council noted that in the first days of the war the EU adopted a decision to provide military support to Ukraine, including equipment and weapons. In addition, EU member states provided assistance at the bilateral level at the request of the Ukrainian state.

Charles Michel also supported increasing pressure on the Russian regime to end the war. And today, additional points of proposals for the European Council to increase sanctions pressure on Russia were discussed.

“We will do everything we can for Ukraine to win, because we want the victory of Ukraine,” said the President of the European Council.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the European Council Charles Michel who is on a visit to our country.

The Head of State stressed that Ukraine has already submitted part of the questionnaire to the European side to obtain the status of a candidate for EU membership.

“We are looking forward to the meeting, to the voting on this priority issue for our state. We expect great support from the European Union countries and personal support from President Charles Michel,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with media representatives following talks with the President of the European Council in Kyiv.

For his part, Charles Michel said that a decision on granting Ukraine EU candidate status is to be announced at the end of June. He expressed confidence that our country will gain strong support for its European integration course.

“The road to the European Union is the road to your future. And every day you demonstrate that you are fully committed to democratic principles and freedoms. You are fighting not just for the future of Ukrainian children, but for the fundamental values of Europe,” said the President of the European Council.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Charles Michel for establishing the Solidarity Trust Fund, which will help rebuild our state.

“We must unite efforts to restore our critical infrastructure, the infrastructure of our cities, our country, our villages, in particular, given the large number of displaced people in Ukraine due to this war,” the President said.

The President of Ukraine stressed that the work to restore the infrastructure of settlements should begin now, without waiting for the end of the war.

“People are living now, people are now using all this infrastructure, which is lacking,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the Trust Fund of Solidarity with Ukraine should become one of the main components of ensuring support for our country’s economy and its post-war recovery.

“We discussed the prospects of holding a relevant donor conference to launch this fund. Complex challenges require immediate action without delay. Our joint action. After all, only together we can and will overcome everything and succeed,” the Head of State said.

The President of Ukraine also noted that our country highly appreciates the initiative to establish the Solidarity Trust Fund, which was supported by the member states of the European Union and which should unite efforts to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.

In addition, the parties discussed the technical details of mobilizing funds so that Ukraine can effectively respond to social challenges.

“We are all impressed with your leadership. By your personal example, you show the bravery of Ukrainians. We stand with you and we will do everything to support you so that Ukraine wins this war,” said Charles Michel.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

Created pursuant to the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a group of Ukrainian and international experts who analyze the real impact of sanctions imposed on Russia presents an action plan to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation.

On Wednesday, April 20, the co-chairs of the expert group – Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak and Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Former US National Security Adviser, Ambassador Michael McFaul – will present the Sanctions Action Plan to the public. The time of the presentation will be announced separately on social networks.

This document contains proposals to the international democratic community on a set of further economic measures aimed at forcing the Russian leadership to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and maximize the price of aggression for Russia.

The plan focuses on 10 key areas of sanctions policy, including:

• Designating Russia and Belarus as states – sponsors of terrorism, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization;
•  A complete ban on Russian energy exports;
• Expanding sanctions against the financial sector of Russia and Belarus;
• Enhancing transportation-related and insurance-related sanctions;
• Expanding and strengthening trade embargoes and personal sanctions.

The document also emphasizes the importance of introducing secondary sanctions and synchronizing the efforts of democratic countries in sanctions policy.

“This document will be the basis for further work of our government to increase sanctions pressure on Russia. We will offer our partners this list as a basis for coordinating the implementation of sanctions. By the way, the document itself contains provisions on the synchronization of sanctions pressure from democratic countries,” Andriy Yermak said.

The Head of the President’s Office thanked the expert group for its high efficiency and urged to continue the work.

“We need a quick implementation of all the proposals and a thorough assessment of their effectiveness,” he said.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 19 April 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada, representatives of the parliamentary corps and members of the government on legislative initiatives that are of paramount importance for the state’s activities in wartime.

Particular attention was paid to the draft laws that need urgent consideration at the next sitting of the Verkhovna Rada.

In particular, the parties discussed the need to approve the decree of the President of Ukraine on the prolongation of martial law, bills to regulate the legal regime in the temporarily occupied territory, the procedure for locating production facilities evacuated due to armed aggression of the Russian Federation, amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

Also consideration is required for the draft laws on the organization of the work of providers of electronic communications networks in martial law, features of privatization of state property in this period, improvement of sanctions and recovery of assets of individuals and legal entities for the state revenue, deregulation in the supply of agricultural products during martial law.