A dialogue on international guarantees for Ukraine should be started and carried out as soon as possible, adviser to the President’s Office head Mykhailo Podoliak believes.
“It is absolutely realistic to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine from the leading powers,” he said on Wednesday, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine about the feasibility of developing a guarantee mechanism in the face of a sharp deterioration in relations between the West and Russia.
“For example, Ukraine’s accession to the European Union can be seen as the initial element of such guarantees. But a substantive dialogue on safeguards must be initiated and carried out as quickly as possible. Our partners know exactly what this means. Now is not the time to reveal details publicly, but it is definitely the time to implement a workable safeguards model,” he said.
Systematic support for Ukraine with a plan to restore it for EUR100 billion, tougher sanctions against Russia and overall energy independence are the main postulates that Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented at a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on March 1.
According to the report on the website of the Polish government, Morawiecki stressed the need for a broader view of the Ukrainian issue.
“It is also very important to prepare an investment package for Ukraine, because the economy needs new investments and new jobs, and energy security is necessary as an important element of recovery after the war, which may end soon,” the official said.
According to him, this will also lead to the fact that this part of Europe will finally become independent of Russian gas, oil and coal.
“This is a necessary condition for peace to reign here in the long term,” the prime minister of Poland summed up.
During his visit to Brussels, Morawiecki demanded the most detailed package of sanctions and stressed that it was necessary.
At the moment, it is not known when new negotiations with the Russian Federation will take place, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“We are ready for negotiations, we are ready for diplomacy, but we are by no means ready to accept any Russian ultimatums. It is unknown at the moment when the new negotiations will take place,” Kuleba said on his Facebook on Wednesday.
He added that the demands of the Russians remain unchanged. “These are the demands that Putin voiced in his address before the start of the war, in fact declaring war on us,” Kuleba said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says the government is actively developing mechanisms for stable supplies of food, medicine and essential goods throughout the country.
“Now the government is actively developing mechanisms for stable supplies of food, medicine and essential goods throughout the country,” Shmyhal said in a video message on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the prime minister, at the moment the Coordinating Center for the Provision of Food Products, Medicines, Drinking Water and Fuel is operating under the leadership of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, and the Humanitarian Aid Coordination Center is also operating under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishina.
The spot price for gas in Europe continues to soar and is already 57% above Tuesday’s closing.
Prices for the nearest, April futures contracts at the TTF hub have broken the $2,000-mark, rising first to $2,011 and then an all-time high of $2,227 per thousand cubic meters on Wednesday afternoon, the previous high being $2,138 on December 21. These contracts closed Tuesday at $1,418, according to ICE Futures exchange data.
But that appears to have been the peak, with prices swinging down on news of a new short-term booking for Yamal-Europe pipeline capacity from 3:00 p.m. Moscow time until the end of the gas day. So far it looks like there will be an additional 0.8 million cubic meters per hour, which is 20% of the pipe’s capacity, in which case an additional 15 mcm of Gazprom gas will be delivered to Europe by morning.
The average TTF price on February was $935.
Apart from the Ukraine crisis, gas prices have risen in Europe due to an abrupt drop in temperatures this week and in wind power generation.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) currently have the ability to monitor the situation at nuclear facilities on the territory of Ukraine, the organization’s director general Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
“Remotely controlled equipment is functioning normally,” he said at a briefing in Vienna.
“We are able to continue security control activities,” Grossi added.
He noted that he expects that in the future it will be possible to send IAEA inspectors directly to facilities in Ukraine.
“I am in contact with all parties. We need to understand how we can provide support,” Grossi said.
He noted that he was “inspired by the willingness of the parties to interact.”
Speaking about whether the events in Ukraine pose a threat to nuclear facilities, the head of the IAEA said: “I proceed from the fact that there will be no such strikes.”
Grossi explained that all countries had previously assured that they considered attacks on nuclear facilities unacceptable.
