The flow to enter Ukraine through its western border for eight days in a row after May 9 exceeds the flow to exit, the total net inflow to Ukraine over these days amounted to 61 thousand people – these are record figures since the beginning of the war.
According to the State Border Service on Facebook, on May 17, more than 31,000 people left Ukraine, as the day before, while the number of arrivals in the country was 37,000 against more than 41,000 the day before.
The agency clarified that over the past day the number of registered vehicles with humanitarian cargo increased to 239 after falling to 150-190 in the previous two days.
According to the Polish Border Service on Twitter, on May 17, 26 thousand entered Ukraine from the country, while the day before – 26.8 thousand. In the opposite direction, the flow amounted to 20 thousand compared to 19.2 thousand the day before.
In total, as indicated by the Polish border agency, since the beginning of the war, 3.442 million people have arrived from Ukraine to Poland, and 1.358 million people from Poland to Ukraine.
According to the UNHCR, as of 13:00 on May 16, a total of 6.267 million people left Ukraine since the beginning of the war (excluding the entry flow), of which 3.377 million went to Poland, 977.91 thousand to Romania and Moldova, and 850 to Russia. .53 thousand, Hungary – 610.08 thousand, Slovakia – 424.03 thousand, Belarus (data for May 12) – 27.31 thousand.
At the same time, according to the State Border Service, 1.821 million people have entered Ukraine by this date since February 28.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced his address and communication with students from leading universities in the US and Canada, as well as higher educational institutions in Ukraine.
According to him, the maximum attention of the world to Ukraine should be maintained, and information about the needs of the Ukrainian state should be present in the news of all countries.
“For greater informational and political support for Ukraine, on Monday I will communicate with students from leading American universities. These are 63 US universities and 2 Canadian universities that bring together hundreds of thousands of students and are a large expert and research community. Their voice will definitely strengthen our capabilities,” Zelensky said in a video message.
At the end of May, the head of state is scheduled to address the students of Stanford University.
Zelensky also announced his plans to communicate with Ukrainian students.
“I am also getting ready to communicate with Ukrainian students from leading universities. In my address to them, I will answer important and complex questions that already exist in our society and are already visible. I expect deep questions from them,” the president said.
The head of state also said that he would continue his appeals to the parliaments of European states. “Our task is the status of a candidate for the EU, and over time, accession to the EU under an accelerated procedure,” he said.
“It is equally important to have the maximum consent of the European countries to strengthen sanctions against Russia. It is for this that I will apply to the Luxembourg parliament in the near future,” he added.
In addition, according to Zelensky, work is underway to expand the geography of speeches before the parliaments of Africa and Asia.
On May 23, the head of state is scheduled to address the forum participants in Davos. “The pre-war reconstruction will be discussed. We are doing our best to collect the support of the world to the maximum,” he summed up.
Arms for Ukraine today are the key to world food security, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said.
“One should understand the cause-and-effect relationships of global processes. Russia threatened the food security of the world by unleashing war in Ukraine. The only way to restore order is to help Ukraine win. Weapons for Ukraine today are the key to the food security of the world,” he wrote in Twitter.
At the opening of the G7 Agriculture Ministerial Conference in Stuttgart on May 13, Minister of Agrarian Policy Ministry of Ukraine Mykola Solsky proposed to discuss the creation of an influential organization of the main countries-supplies of grain in the world, responding to modern challenges and threats to food security, including from the Russian Federation.
As stated in the message of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Saturday, among the tasks of this organization, Ukraine sees, in particular, the establishment of maximum volumes of exports of grain crops to stabilize prices and predictability of the market, the development of a mechanism for directing excessive balances of agricultural products to the needs of the “green” sector of the economy.
In addition, this organization could apply joint restrictive measures against unfriendly actions of food importers, especially in the case of restrictive measures by third countries on the import of processed products.
Another principle introduced by the organization should be, in the opinion of Ukraine, the storage of grain residues contracted by third countries, to a large extent in producing countries.
Solsky also called on his colleagues to contribute as much as possible to lifting the blockade on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
“Due to the blockade of Ukrainian seaports, seven million tonnes of wheat, 14 million tonnes of corn, three million tonnes of sunflower oil and three million tonnes of sunflower cake, as well as other crops, did not enter the world market. This has already led to a record increase in prices on the world market and will inevitably lead to a global food crisis and rising inflation,” the minister said.
Ukraine and Moldova will renew the Free Trade Agreement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“Despite the war we are implementing agreements of 2021. The draft law on the application of Pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin was submitted to Parliament,” Shmyhal said in Twitter on Friday.
In turn, representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk said the draft law approved on Friday “On the ratification of the Protocol between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on Free Trade Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Moldova dated November 13 2003” will allow in bilateral trade between Ukraine and Moldova, when determining the origin of goods, to be guided by the provisions of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin or alternative rules of origin of the said Regional Convention.
The US House of Representatives passed a number of bills related to the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday, The Hill said.
One of the bills is aimed at alleviating the debt burden of Ukraine. Some 452 congressmen voted for it, while 56 voted against.
The document instructs the U.S. Treasury Secretary to seek from U.S. representatives in international financial organizations, including the IMF and the World Bank, the immediate suspension of debt service payments by Ukraine and the provision of financial assistance to Kyiv on favorable terms.
The second bill seeks to require the U.S. executive branch to seek to the fullest extent possible the exclusion of Russian officials from participation in meetings, meetings and other events of the G20, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Financial Stability Board, the International Insurance Association supervisors and the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
Some 416 congressmen voted for this project, while two voted against.
The third bill concerns the need for U.S. financial institutions to comply with U.S. sanctions against Russia and Belarus. It was approved by 418 votes.
According to the congressional database, all three documents must now go to the Senate for consideration.
