Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday reiterated that Ankara is ready to organize a meeting of the heads of Russia and Ukraine, Anadolu said.
“Turkey is making efforts to continue the Istanbul process between Russia and Ukraine, and is ready to organize a dialogue at the level of heads of state,” the agency said.
Erdoğan also expressed hope for progress in the Ukrainian-Russian negotiations.
“There is progress. However, they are far from desired. We hope for progress. We do not lose hope,” Anadolu said, citing the Turkish leader.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal discussed with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo the development of bilateral trade and the reduction of trade barriers.
“Denis Shmihal noted the importance of continuing and strengthening sanctions pressure on Russia in order to reduce its ability to finance the war against Ukraine. An important blow to bleed the Russian economy and the Russian military machine should be the sanctions of the energy sector. According to the head of government, this concerns the imposition by partner countries of an embargo on the import of oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuel from Russia,” the government’s press service said in a statement.
Shmyhal urged countries to look for ways to diversify sources of nuclear fuel supplies to reduce dependence on Russia.
The prime minister also focused on the need to identify and eliminate any loopholes and potential opportunities for Russia to circumvent the already imposed sanctions.
“Russia is trying to adapt to some sanctions with the help of certain countries and companies. We will work with our partners to eliminate such opportunities for Russia,” he stressed.
It is noted6 that one of the most important tracks, according to Shmyhal, is a large-scale restriction of Russia’s trade opportunities while expanding the opportunities for unhindered trade for Ukraine by reducing import quotas and barriers for strategic sectors of Ukrainian industry.
According to him, along with the financial support of international partners, it is equally important for Ukraine to open new markets for Ukrainian-made products, in particular, this applies to products of the steel industry and the agro-industrial complex.
In particular, Shmyhal noted that the release of Ukrainian steel from US duties would allow for a stable supply of metallurgical enterprises with orders, and thousands of Ukrainian metallurgists with jobs.
COOPERATION, PM, UKRAINE, US
Ukraine is negotiating a potential issue of “peace bonds” designed for retail investors from the US and European diaspora, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
“Ukraine is in talks with the EU and the US to issue so-called ‘peace bonds’ to retail investors to fund the war effort and reconstruction,” the agency said, citing a source familiar with the discussion.
The European Commission has proposed recommendations and the role of an intermediary regarding the control of new bonds. According to the source, Ukraine and the EU held relevant negotiations.
Earlier, the Treasury Department indicated that it was discussing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission the possibility of allowing US citizens to buy Ukraine’s war bonds. According to the source, the Ukrainian government is represented by an international law firm in the placement of bonds on the US market. At present, war bonds have allowed the Ministry of Finance to raise $1.53 billion, the IMF – $1.4 billion, the NBU – $1.3, the World Bank – $1 billion, EU – $0.79 billion, the report says.
The United States is launching a new program for the admission of refugees from Ukraine, which is designed to supplement the ways of entry for them into the country, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
“We have already accepted tens of thousands of Ukrainians, and today I am announcing the Unite for Ukraine program, a new program that will allow Ukrainians seeking refugee status to travel directly from Europe to the United States,” he said.
“This new program will complement the existing routes of entry available to Ukrainians,” Biden said.
Earlier, the United States announced its readiness to accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
U.S. President Joe Biden intends next week to send a request to Congress for an additional budget for military assistance to Ukraine.
At the White House on Thursday Biden said that next week, he will send a request to Congress for an additional budget to keep the flow of weapons and ammunition to the brave Ukrainian fighters uninterrupted. He explained that this is also necessary to continue economic support. According to the president, he will appeal to Congress, as the previously allocated budget for assistance to Ukraine is running out.
The U.S. President believes that Congress will quickly respond to his request.
The United States will provide the government of Ukraine with another $500 million in direct economic assistance, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
“Today, the United States is announcing that we intend to provide an additional $500 million in direct economic assistance to the Ukrainian government,” Biden said. According to him, the government of Ukraine will be able to use this money to stabilize the economy, support the population and pay salaries to employees.
He said that, thus, the total U.S. economic support to Ukraine over the past two months amounted to $1 billion.
