As of Sunday morning, December 10, about 3,500 trucks are queuing to enter Ukraine at the Ukrainian-Polish border, according to the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS), Andriy Demchenko.
“The situation is almost unchanged. Four directions are blocked. “Rava-Ruska – Khrebenne, Yahodyn – Dorohusk, Krakovets – Korchova, Shehyny – Medyka. As of this morning, according to the information we have from the Polish border guards, almost 3,500 trucks are in line to cross into Ukraine,” Demchenko said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday.
The SBGS spokesman noted that the largest number of trucks is opposite the Shehyni checkpoint – 1,200, and the Yahodyn checkpoint – almost 900.
“Of course, during the day there is a certain movement of trucks both entering Ukraine and leaving Ukraine in the direction of Poland, but there is no dynamics and intensity that was before November 6,” added Demchenko.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou during a working visit to Argentina.
As reported on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state on Sunday, Zelensky thanked for Uruguay’s position within the International Maritime Organization in support of the resolution on the impact of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine on international shipping, adopted in December this year.
“Today I have the opportunity to personally thank you and the people of your country for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is working to implement the Ukrainian formula for peace, which is one of the key political instruments to end the war. He praised the participation of the Uruguayan representative in the third meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers on the implementation of the Peace Formula.
The President of Ukraine expressed hope for the participation of the Uruguayan side in the fourth meeting of the advisers in January next year, where, inter alia, it is planned to discuss the preparation of the first inaugural Global Peace Summit.
Special attention was paid to the possibility of holding a Ukraine-Latin America summit.
Zelenskyy invited Luis Lacalle Pou to pay a visit to Ukraine.
On December 11, Hungarian hauliers will hold a protest on the border with Ukraine, demanding the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime”, which will take place near the Záhony-Chop checkpoint, the Association of Hungarian Trucking Contractors MKFE reports.
“The road carriers demand an immediate revision of the agreement and the restoration of license quotas for Ukrainian-Hungarian transportation, as well as effective and intensive official control over Ukrainian carriers,” the statement said.
The protesters say they want to draw the attention of the European Commission and the Hungarian government to what they see as the serious consequences of the agreement between the EU, Ukraine and Moldova, which partially liberalizes road transportation and puts many Hungarian businesses in a critical situation that distorts the market.
“Road carriers demand an immediate revision of the agreement and the restoration of license quotas for Ukrainian-Hungarian transportation, as well as effective and intensive official control over Ukrainian carriers,” the statement said.
The Association noted that the police allowed the demonstration announced by the Hungarian carriers.
Bulgaria’s parliament has overridden the presidential veto on an agreement to supply Ukraine with used armored personnel carriers (APCs), ratified earlier by parliament, The Sofia Globe reports.
“The Bulgarian National Assembly voted on December 8 to override President Rumen Radev’s veto of the agreement between the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Bulgaria’s supply of used APCs to Ukraine, ratified by parliament last month,” the newspaper said.
The motion to override the veto was passed with 161 votes in favor and 55 against.
The agreement stipulates that Bulgaria will supply APCs and existing weapons, as well as spare parts. The vehicles were purchased in the 1980s and have been mothballed for several decades.
In addition, on December 8, the Bulgarian National Assembly voted overwhelmingly (145 in favor, 55 against) to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine, to allow the use of Bulgarian airspace for training Ukrainian F-16 pilots, and to allow a limited number of Ukrainian military personnel to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
Additional military assistance would include Bulgaria providing Ukraine with malfunctioning, obsolete, and surplus air defense missiles. The military assistance also includes allowing Ukrainian infantry or mechanized companies of up to 160 personnel per year to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has raised its forecast for wheat exports from Ukraine in 2023/24 marketing year (MY) by 0.5 million tons to 12.5 million tons, and corn by 1.0 million tons to 21.0 million tons.
According to the U.S. agency’s December report, the improvement in the forecast for wheat exports was made by reducing the estimate of year-end carryover balances by the same 0.5 million tons, to 2.58 million tons.
As for corn, the USDA raised the forecast for its harvest also by 1 million tons – up to 30.5 million tons.
In addition, the U.S. analysts improved the estimate of transitional corn residues by 0.39 million tons both at the beginning of this MY (up to 2.8 million tons) and at its end (up to 6.82 million tons).
Overall, the updated world wheat crop forecast for 2023/24 is improved by 1.03 million tons to 783.01 million due to positive revisions to estimates for Australia and Canada, offsetting a worsening of the forecast for Brazil.
The estimate for global wheat consumption is raised by 1.82 million tons to 794.66 million, and global exports by 2.18 million tons to 207.19 million tons: in addition to Ukraine, the estimates for the United States, Australia and Canada are improved.
As for corn, the forecast for its harvest in December was raised by 1.28 million tons to 1 billion 222.07 million tons, and for exports by 1.84 million tons to 201.46 million tons.
forecast for wheat exports, forecast for wheat exports from Ukraine, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with American businessman and philanthropist, chairman of the Open Society Foundations network, Alexander Soros.
According to the press service of the Office of the President, Yermak thanked Soros for participating in the first founding meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which took place on Friday in Kyiv.
“Your participation is very important. I hope that the coalition will demonstrate successful results,” said the Head of the Presidential Office.
Yermak also thanked for the adoption of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Olena Zelenska Foundation and the International Renaissance Foundation. The document was signed at the initiative of the Open Society Foundations network. “According to the Memorandum, $1 million will be allocated to support children in Ukraine, in particular, children raised in large foster families in the frontline, de-occupied and affected regions of our country,” the statement said.
Yermak also expressed his gratitude to Alexander Soros for signing the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Advisor to the Presidential Commissioner Daria Gerasymchuk and the Open Society Foundations. The document will contribute to the most effective protection of the rights of children affected by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and will help in the implementation of the President’s Plan Bring Kids Back UA, in particular, measures to return young citizens illegally deported by Russia.
“The Head of the President’s Office emphasized the importance of global publicity of the cases of deportation of Ukrainian minors by Russia. In his opinion, this can be facilitated by the publication of a book with stories about such children, as well as the involvement of world-famous personalities in the process of their return to Ukraine,” the press release reads.
Yermak also told Soros about projects to support veterans and their rehabilitation. He praised the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the International Renaissance Foundation and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, which provides for joint work in the field of psychological rehabilitation and psychological support for family members of military personnel, families of war victims, prisoners of war and internally displaced persons. As part of the Memorandum, pilot projects will be implemented in two institutions in Odesa region.
“Your family is doing a lot for Ukraine: important projects to protect our people, strengthen democracy, and make the Ukrainian state successful,” the Head of the Presidential Office said.
The parties also discussed opportunities for the development of the Ukrainian economy, in particular, the issues of recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.
