In an evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian negotiating team will hold a preparatory meeting tomorrow to agree on the framework for future negotiations and all organizational details, and on Monday, February 2, will travel to the United Arab Emirates to participate in trilateral negotiations scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
“There was a report from our negotiating team. An agreement has already been reached on a trilateral meeting at the appropriate level. This meeting will take place next week, as planned, on Wednesday and Thursday. In the Emirates, as last time,” Zelensky emphasized.
Zelensky added that a meeting is scheduled for Monday to agree on the framework for the talks and prepare for the negotiations, and the team will set off on Monday evening.
“Many leaders and different countries are with us in this process, supporting Ukraine, and we are coordinating on a daily basis. In February, we will be quite active in foreign policy, and starting tomorrow, we will have contacts and meetings,” the president said in a statement.
The document on security guarantees from the US is 100% ready, and Ukraine is waiting for its partners to confirm the date and place of signing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“For us, a security guarantee is, first and foremost, a bilateral security guarantee from the United States of America. The document is 100% ready, we are waiting for our partners to be ready to provide a venue for us to sign it, and then the document will go for ratification in the US Congress and the Ukrainian parliament,” Zelensky said during a press conference in Vilnius on Sunday.
On December 23, Zelensky announced that the agreement on security guarantees from the US was ready for signing, and that the date and place of signing depended on US President Donald Trump.
“It’s up to him. We are ready to sign these documents, which are so important to us. I emphasize once again that we are confident that these are historic documents,” Zelensky said during a conversation with journalists.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held interviews with candidates for the posts of regional administration heads on Sunday, he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“The conversations were thorough. I am grateful to everyone who is ready to take responsibility for the situation in the region and serve our state and people. Appointments will be made in the near future for the Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Ternopil, and Chernivtsi regions. I would like to thank the leaders who have served in these positions. The names of the new leaders will be announced after the formal procedures for preparing the appointments are completed,” the president said.
He noted that the key task of the leaders will be to strengthen local self-government, community resilience, and the ability of regions to protect lives and help communities in need. “Each of our regions, all our cities and communities must stand shoulder to shoulder in defending all of Ukraine,” Zelensky added.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky offered the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, to head the Office of the President.
“I met with Kirill Budanov and offered him to head the Office of the President of Ukraine. Right now, Ukraine needs to focus more on security issues, developing Ukraine’s defense and security forces, and the diplomatic track in negotiations, and the Office of the President will serve to fulfill these tasks of our state first and foremost,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram on Friday.
According to the president, Budanov has special experience in these areas and sufficient power to achieve results.
In addition, Zelensky instructed the new head of the Office of the President, in cooperation with NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov and other necessary leaders and institutions, to update and submit for approval the strategic principles of Ukraine’s defense and development and further steps.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is asking the US and Europe to ensure security for the elections, after which Ukraine will be ready to hold them in the next 60-90 days.
“Not only that, I am now asking, and I am stating this openly, for the US to help me, possibly together with European colleagues, to ensure security for the elections. Then, in the next 60-90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold elections. I personally have the will and readiness to do so,” Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday.
At the same time, the president noted that the issue of elections in Ukraine depends primarily on Ukrainians, not on the people of other countries.
He stressed that he is ready for the elections, but explained that security and a legislative basis for their legitimacy are necessary for the elections to be held.
“Further, since this is how things have turned out, I ask that the deputies of our faction, in principle, our parliamentarians, prepare legislative proposals on the possibility of changing the legislative framework and the law on elections during martial law,” Zelensky added.
According to him, he is waiting for proposals from partners and deputies and is ready to go to the polls.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “a weak Russia and a defeated Russia are not beneficial,” so he believes that China is not seeking an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“Of course, China is a strong country with a strong economy, and most importantly in our case, it has influence over Russia, personally over Putin. But with all due respect to the Chinese people, their history, and their culture, we must honestly say that I don’t see how ending this war would benefit China. Why? Because, I think we have read… the new US (security) doctrine… These are two great powers, great economies, and this is a great confrontation. This does not mean that it is a war, it may be any diplomatic or economic confrontation – this is happening. And today, a weak Russia and a defeated Russia in this format is not beneficial to China.
And because of this, honestly, the Ukrainian people are suffering,“ Zelensky said, responding to a question from journalists on WhatsApp on Monday.
Zelensky added that if ”it is not beneficial for China to stop Russia, it means that the war will continue.”
“This does not mean that China directly supports Russia with weapons, but it certainly does not support stopping this war. That is final. Plus, there are various reports from our intelligence services about the supply of machine tools and other items from China to Russia, but I have not been informed of any direct supplies of weapons,” Zelensky said.
