Ambassadors of the European Union member states have approved the allocation of 5 billion euros of military aid for Ukraine under the European Peace Facility.
The decision was taken on Wednesday in Brussels on the sidelines of a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives, the Belgian Presidency said on its social media page X.
“A deal! EU ambassadors agreed in principle to reform the European Peace Facility to support Ukraine with a €5 billion budget for 2024. The European Union remains determined to provide long-term support to Ukraine and to ensure that the country receives the military equipment it needs to defend itself,” the presidency said.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky received letters of credence from the new Ambassador of Turkey Mustafa Levent Bilgen, Ambassador of the Czech Republic Radek Pech, Ambassador of Luxembourg Ronald Dofing, who began their work in Ukraine.
As reported on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state on Friday, the ceremony took place on the territory of the Sofia of Kiev national reserve.
During the conversation with Mustafa Levent Bilgen, Turkey’s active participation in the Peace Formula meetings at the level of national security advisers and its willingness to lead the implementation of the food security clause of the Formula were highly appreciated.
“The upcoming joint steps to ensure the operation of the “grain corridors”, the implementation of the global humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine” and the priority areas of Ukrainian-Turkish security cooperation were discussed separately. The head of state noted Turkey’s important position regarding the further promotion of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” the statement says. message.
During a conversation with the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, an exchange of views took place on interaction between states in the defense sector and strengthening cooperation in the military-industrial complex
“The President thanked the Czech Republic for its support of the Ukrainian peace formula and expressed hope for the further active involvement of Prague in its practical implementation and preparation of the Global Peace Summit. Special attention was paid to the issues of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine and the importance of the Czech Republic’s support for the development of our country on the path to the EU and NATO “, reports the press service of the head of state.
During a conversation with Ronald Dauphing, the President thanked Luxembourg for participating in a meeting at the level of national security advisers on the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.
“The importance of Luxembourg’s support for the decision to begin negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU during the December meeting of the European Council was noted. The head of state noted the need to develop a mechanism that would allow the use of Russian assets frozen by Luxembourg to restore Ukraine,” the message says.
Turkey and Egypt have upgraded their diplomatic relations to ambassadorial level, appointing them for the first time in 10 years, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“Turkey and Egypt announce that diplomatic relations between the countries have been upgraded to ambassadorial level,” the media cited excerpts from a Foreign Ministry press release.
Salih Mutlu Shen, the country’s former representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was appointed the new Turkish ambassador to Egypt. The Egyptian side offered to appoint Amr Elhamami as ambassador to Ankara.
“The move is aimed at normalization between the two countries and reflects the mutual desire to develop bilateral relations in accordance with the interests of the peoples of Turkey and Egypt,” the document stressed.
Arab media recall that Turkish and Egyptian presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed to exchange ambassadors in late May. At that time, the office of the Egyptian leader said that in a telephone conversation the two presidents agreed to strengthen relations and cooperation between the two sides and therefore decided to raise the level of relations to ambassadors.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo deteriorated after the military coup in Egypt in July 2013. At that time, Turkey and Egypt recalled their ambassadors. In November 2013, Cairo declared the Turkish ambassador “persona non grata.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree appointing Andriy Melnyk as Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Brazil.
The corresponding decree № 341/2023 is published on the website of the President.
In addition, by the decree № 340/2023 Ambassador of Ukraine to Peru Yuriy Polukhovich was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to Colombia concurrently.
By Decree №339/2023 Oleksandr Polishchuk was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to India.
Andriy Melnyk served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine from 2022 to 2023, before that he was Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany (from 2014 to 2022).
Yuriy Polyukhovich has represented Ukraine in Peru since December 2022. Previously, he served as Acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine (from March 10 to March 25, 2020).
Oleksandr Polishchuk has served as Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine since October 2019. He was Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group in the working subgroup on security issues. He holds the rank of Major General.
Ambassadors of European Union member states supported the extension of trade liberalization with Ukraine, the Swedish EU presidency said on its Twitter page.
“The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) has just supported the renewal of the Provisional Trade Liberalization Regulation supplementing trade concessions under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. This will support Ukraine’s economy after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” the statement said.
The decision must then be approved by the European Parliament, followed by a formal decision by the European Council. The procedure should be completed at the end of May.
A day earlier, on Thursday, the “green light” to extend the cancellation of import duties on Ukrainian exports to the European Union for a period of one year to support the country’s economy was given by the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade. The vote in the plenary session is scheduled for May 8-11.
As it was reported, the problematic issue was the ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products by five EU countries – Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. It was caused by the accumulation in these countries of Ukrainian agricultural products intended for further import. In this connection, on April 19, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced proposals to introduce a temporary – until June 5 – import ban on corn, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and sunflower oil for these five countries. Besides, financial compensation in the amount of EUR100 million is envisaged for these countries.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that he has submitted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nominations for Ukraine’s ambassadors to China, India and Brazil.
Kuleba said on Facebook that the Foreign Ministry has created an open search for Ukraine’s ambassadors, and the vacancy is currently open for 21 countries except China, India and Brazil.
“As a final note: you may note that China, India and Brazil are not among the list of countries. And you would be right. This is because I have already submitted to the President of Ukraine candidates for ambassadors to these countries. You will know their names after the publication of the corresponding decrees. I will only say that we plan to send to such special countries specialists in state work experience at the level of ministers and deputy ministers”, – Kuleba wrote.
