The US president said that Ukraine could “negotiate” to prevent war.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that elections should be held in Ukraine, as incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly has a low rating, and that Russia allegedly wants the war to end.
“Now we have a situation in Ukraine where there have been no elections for a long time. Martial law has been introduced there. And the Ukrainian leader now, no matter how sad I am to say it, has 4% support,” Trump said at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago following the US-Russia talks in Riyadh on February 18.
According to him, it is not Russia that is demanding elections in Ukraine, but an “objective situation” because there have been no elections for a long time.
It is not yet clear where Trump got these sociological data from.
The US president also says that Russia is desperate to “stop” the war.
In 2024, Lemtrans, Ukraine’s largest private rail transportation operator, increased its investments by 2.9 times compared to 2023 to UAH 478 million, while total transportation volume decreased by 6% to 15.9 million tons.
“Lemtrans continues to work to ensure the logistics and economic stability of Ukraine by supplying critical raw materials and investing in new infrastructure projects… In 2024, the group allocated more than UAH 478 million for infrastructure and logistics projects, which is three times higher than in 2023, when investments amounted to more than UAH 160 million,” Lemtrans’ press service said on Tuesday.
The company has invested in the development of terminals and container business, allocating UAH 441 million in this area, the statement said.
In the second half of 2023, the construction of a modern container terminal in Vinnytsia was completed. Lemtrans also continued to implement an investment program aimed at maintaining the railcar fleet and further improving the efficiency of railcar repair facilities. The volume of scheduled and current repairs of freight cars in 2024 reached 5,635 units.
Lemtrans’ total transportation volume in 2024 amounted to 15.9 million tons, which is 6% less than in 2023, the press service reported.
Coal accounted for the bulk of transportation – 10.9 million tons. Iron ore was the second largest (2.3 million tons). In addition, the company transported 2.01 million tons of construction materials and 0.6 million tons of other cargo in 2024, the report said.
“Starting from the third quarter, coal transportation decreased due to the massive attacks by Russia on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Damage to production assets led to a reduction in transportation volumes by shippers,” the company’s press service explained.
Based on the results of their activities in 2024, the companies that are part of the Lemtrans group transferred more than UAH 712 million in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels. This is 30% less than in 2023, when UAH 929 million was paid.
“In 2024, Lemtrans transferred about UAH 647 million to the state budget. Local budgets were replenished by UAH 66 million. In addition, Lemtrans Group paid more than UAH 59 million in unified social tax, the press service said.
“Despite the challenges of wartime, we continue to invest in infrastructure projects… The container terminal in Vinnytsia expands the access of Ukrainian enterprises to world markets, contributing to the growth of export-import operations and strengthening the economic potential of both the region and the country as a whole. This is especially important in the current environment, when economic sustainability is a key factor for Ukraine,” Lemtrans CEO Volodymyr Mezentsev said, as quoted by the press service.
Earlier it was reported that Yegor Grebennikov, co-owner of the port operator Transinvestservice (TIS), will become a co-owner of the Mostyska Dry Port project in Vinnytsia, which Lemtrans is implementing jointly with Rail Investment. The relevant permission was granted by the Antimonopoly Committee.
Number of dead and wounded civilians in Ukraine from 24.02.2022 till 31.10.2024 un data
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
KP “Vinnitsa transport company” on February 17 announced a tender for insurance services on automobile and urban electric transport (carrier’s liability for damage caused to passengers and luggage).
According to the message in the system of electronic public procurement ProZorro, the expected cost of the purchase of services is UAH 6.421 million. The deadline for submission of bids is February 27.
The !Fest holding has opened a new bar called Piana Vyshnia in Kaunas (Lithuania), which became the 25th establishment of the chain outside Ukraine, the head and co-owner of the holding, Andriy Khudo, said on Facebook.
“+1 to PianaVyshnia in Kaunas! This is the 70th restaurant in the world and the 25th abroad. Our brand is developing in Europe and beyond, opening up new opportunities for partners who are ready to become part of a common future,” commented Khudo on the opening.
The !Fest holding was founded in 2007. It develops a network of creative restaurants, cafes and shops in Ukraine. It is owned by Andriy Khudo, Yuriy Nazaruk and Dmitry Gerasimov.
The United States and Russia have agreed on four principles after talks that lasted more than four hours in Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, CNN reported. The senior official listed them.
“Restore the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and Moscow. In order for us to continue down this path, we have to have diplomatic institutions that are open and functioning properly,” he said.
“We’re going to appoint a high-level team from our side to help negotiate and work to end the conflict in Ukraine in a way that is lasting and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio said.
“To begin discussing, contemplating and exploring both geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” the Secretary of State added.
“The five of us who were here today… will continue to be engaged in this process to make sure it moves forward in a productive way,” the State Department head summarized.
The five people Rubio mentioned were himself, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Steve Vitkoff, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
“President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its power in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can convince Ukraine and Russia to agree to this,” Rubio added.
The secretary of state also said that “one phone call followed by one meeting is not enough to establish a lasting peace. We must act, and today we took an important step forward.”
Rubio expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting him under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
As reported, on Tuesday, the first round of talks between US and Russian officials took place in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), which lasted more than four hours. As previously reported by the media, the main topic of the talks should be the end of the Russian war in Ukraine.
