More than 350,000 people have been evacuated from the combat areas since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a result of negotiations with the Russian side, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“The organization of humanitarian corridors is one of the elements of the ongoing negotiation process with the Russian Federation. It is very complex. Nevertheless, no matter how difficult it was, more than 350,000 people were saved from the combat areas,” Zelensky said in a video message on Sunday evening .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in Kyiv on May 1, the press service of the President’s Office reported.
“I am grateful to you for this signal. A signal of strong support for Ukraine from the people of the United States, Congress, bipartisan support. This indicates that the United States is the leader in supporting Ukraine during the war against Russian aggression, and I want to thank you for being help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the President said.
Zelensky noted the importance of US President Joseph Biden’s appeal to Congress on providing financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $33 billion.
Pelosi noted that today Ukraine is fighting heroically for freedom, and the United States is ready to help Kyiv until this fight is over. According to her, Ukraine is the border of freedom.
For a significant personal contribution to strengthening Ukrainian-American interstate cooperation, support for a sovereign, independent and democratic Ukraine, Zelensky awarded Pelosi the Order of Princess Olga.
As Serhiy Leshchenko, a member of the Ukrzaliznytsia Supervisory Board, specified, four congressmen visited Kyiv together with the Speaker of the House of Representatives: Gregory W. Meeks, head of the International Affairs Committee, Jason Crow, Jim McGovern and Adam Schiff, who, as head of the House Intelligence Committee, led the impeachment of Donald Trump.
Friedrich Merz, head of the opposition Christian Democratic Union of Germany, will visit Ukraine on Monday, German media reported citing their own sources.
“CDU leader Friedrich Merz (66) travels to Kyiv on Monday,” writes Bild.
Merz’s upcoming visit to Ukraine is also reported by Tagesspiegel. “CDU leader Friedrich Merz will travel to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday. Tagesspiegel learned about this from party and security circles,” the message says.
French President Emmanuel Macron, during a telephone conversation on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, promised to intensify the provision of military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv, BFMTV channel said, citing sources.
According to the channel, Macron “promised to increase support for Ukraine by transferring weapons and humanitarian aid.”
The number of people who entered Ukraine through its western border on April 30 rose from over 35,000 a day earlier to almost 40,000, the highest since the start of the war, the State Border Service reported on Facebook on Sunday.
According to its data, on the last day of April, a record number of vehicles passing through the border since the beginning of the war was also recorded – 19 thousand, which may be due to the expectations of closing the window for preferential import of cars into Ukraine in connection with the relevant law submitted to the Verkhovna Rada .
The exit flow on April 30 remained at the level of the previous day – 38 thousand, being less than the entry flow for the first time since April 24, the State Border Service indicated.
The agency clarified that over the past day, the number of registered vehicles with humanitarian cargo increased to 380 from 250 the day before.
The State Border Service recalled that, according to the Slovak side, from May 2, the Velke Slementse checkpoint (on the Ukrainian side – Malye Selmentsy) will operate from 09:00 to 21:00 (Kyiv time).
According to the data of the Polish border service on Twitter, on April 30, 26.8 thousand entered Ukraine from the country against 23.6 thousand the day before. In the opposite direction, the flow amounted to 23.5 thousand compared to 21.8 thousand a day earlier.
In total, since the beginning of the war, the Polish border agency points out, 3.076 million people entered the country from Ukraine, and 975 thousand people in the opposite direction.
According to UNHCR data, as of 13:00 on April 29, a total of 5.469 million people left Ukraine since the beginning of the war (excluding entry flow), of which 3.014 million went to Poland, 881.19 thousand to Romania and Moldova, and 656 to Russia 38 thousand, Hungary – 519.98 thousand, Slovakia – 371.92 thousand, Belarus – 25 thousand.
At the same time, according to the State Border Service, 1.29 million people have entered Ukraine by this date since February 28.
The nomination for pumping Russian gas to Europe as of May 1 is 96.7 million cubic meters. m compared to 69.6 million cubic meters. m on April 30, according to the data of the “GTS Operator of Ukraine”.
Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the regular mode, in accordance with the confirmed applications of European consumers – 97.2 million cubic meters. m on May 1,” the official representative of the company Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters.
European importers of Russian gas have significantly increased their bids for the supply of Gazprom’s fuel, waiting for contract prices to fall. Most of the contracts are linked to the day-ahead market index – its value in April was at a record level of about $1,400 per thousand cubic meters, and in May dropped to $1,100.
In April, as before in January of this year, buyers minimized gas withdrawals under contracts with external suppliers, trying to find a cheaper alternative on the spot market. Contract prices approaching spot prices automatically increased import bids.
The situation with the production of electricity from renewable sources in Europe has deteriorated markedly this week. Last week (from 18 to 24 April) wind turbines provided an average of 17% of electricity generation in the EU, but for the six days of this week, their contribution is only 8.8%, according to data from the WindEurope association. For ten days ahead, Europe is expected to have low wind or calm weather, which does not give a chance to correct the situation.
Europe continues pumping gas into underground storage facilities. At the moment, the reserves are 33%, growth over the past day – 0.26 percentage points, according to data from the association Gas Infrastructure Europe. The current level of stocks in UGS facilities in Europe lags behind the five-year average by 6 percentage points. In April, injection was held back by high prices for imported gas.
