President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine and its partners do not consider the possibility of Russian representatives attending the inaugural Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland.
“Today we talked a lot about our Formula for Peace. I am grateful for the support of Mr. President. I informed Mr. President about the preparation of the global Peace Summit at the level of leaders, which is being organized in Switzerland – the inaugural Peace Summit,” he said during a press conference with the Turkish President in Istanbul.
According to Zelenskyy, “it is obvious that Turkey’s special role deserves to be demonstrated at the Peace Summit and in the joint work of the world majority to fully implement the Peace Formula.”
“As for the format of the inaugural Summit itself, we do not see any representatives of Russia at this Summit. We do not see how people who block, destroy and kill everything can be invited. We want to get a result. The result of a just peace, and a just peace for Ukraine,” the President of Ukraine said.
Therefore, Zelenskyy noted, “first, the civilized countries of the world will develop a detailed plan and have a result (based on the results of the first Peace Summit – IF-U).”
“And only then will they involve representatives of Russia – those who will be ready for a just peace,” he concluded.
Earlier, during a press conference with Zelenskyy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was ready to host a peace summit, but with the participation of Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey is ready to host a peace summit with Russia.
“From the very beginning, we have been contributing to ending the war through negotiations. We are ready to host a peace summit that will include Russia,” he said on Friday in Istanbul after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Erdogan emphasized that “we support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of our strategic partner, Ukraine.”
“Unfortunately, the war is having an increasingly negative impact regionally and globally, and primarily on Ukraine. No diplomatic steps have been taken to use the negotiating table we built in Istanbul in March 2022 to establish peace,” he said.
The Turkish President also expressed his readiness to support new agreements on grain exports.
According to him, “the entry into force of the free trade agreement as soon as possible will undoubtedly give impetus to the development of our relations.”
Erdogan noted that “the existence of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine is one of the most important factors in strengthening friendship between the two countries. The Crimean Tatars, who are an integral part of Ukraine, are selflessly fighting for the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
“In the future, on the one hand, we will stand in solidarity with Ukraine, and on the other hand, we will continue our work to end the war with a just peace based on negotiations,” he said.
An agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Turkey on the establishment of a system for the electronic exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles moving between the parties was signed in Istanbul on Friday as part of a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“According to the document, information exchange will be carried out between the State Customs Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Trade of Turkey. Based on the agreement, a system of electronic exchange of preliminary information will be created, through which a predetermined set of data will be exchanged in electronic form,” the press service of the President of Ukraine reports.
It is noted that the information received by the customs authorities of the parties will help speed up the movement of goods and vehicles across the borders of both states, as well as counteract customs offenses.
On behalf of Ukraine, the agreement was signed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and on behalf of Turkey – by Trade Minister Omer Bolat.
The Czech Republic has raised the necessary amount of money to purchase 800,000 pieces of artillery ammunition for Ukraine, which is to be delivered in the coming weeks, Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports, citing Czech President Petr Pavel.
“As of this morning, we have collected the total amount for the purchase of all ammunition, that is, 800,000 pieces,” Pavel told reporters during a visit to the Central Bohemian region.
According to him, the next step will be to sign a memorandum between the Czech government and the 18 countries that have joined the initiative.
“Then, the Czech side will send information to all the supplier countries about the schedule and how we will act,” the Czech president said.
He refused to name the amounts received from individual countries and added that Norway has contributed the required amount.
“Now it all depends on the ability of our companies and the Ministry of Defense to speed up the whole process (of transferring ammunition – IF-U),” Pavel added.
On February 17, it was reported that the Czech Republic is looking for ammunition and weapons to supply Ukraine as soon as possible around the world, in particular, there is a possibility of supplying 500,000 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm shells from third countries within weeks if the necessary funding is received.
Dynamics of changes in discount rate of NBU – from 2013 to 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Norway has joined a coalition to support Ukraine in the field of air defense, the press service of the Norwegian government reports.
“It is quite natural for Norway to be part of such an air defense coalition. Norwegian NASAMS contributes to saving Ukrainian lives and protecting critical infrastructure every day,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram.
The press release notes that the Norwegian government has already joined three coalitions that provide military support to Ukraine. These are the Maritime Coalition, which Norway leads jointly with the United Kingdom, the F-16 Coalition, under which the Norwegian government will provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and train the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their operation, and the Air Defense Coalition, led by Germany and France.
“We have stated that we will provide support where it is most needed. Air defense is on Ukraine’s list of priorities. It is absolutely necessary to protect military departments, cities and critical infrastructure necessary to support the life of society,” the head of the Norwegian Defense Ministry emphasized.
As reported, on February 14, France and Germany launched a coalition in Brussels to support Ukrainian air defense within the framework of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense.
