Presidential Press Secretary Serhiy Nikiforov has announced a major conference on February 25 on the future path of Ukraine, which will be attended by “all top speakers from the government, the military and political leadership, and the Prime Minister.”
“On February 25, we are preparing something special. It will be a conference, an honest conversation about our path forward, our path in 2024. All the top speakers from the government, the military and political leadership, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Security Service, the GUR, the Ministry of Strategic Industries will be there. The first lady will be there, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Presidential Office and, of course, the president himself,” said presidential spokesman Sergei Nikiforov on the air of a nationwide telethon on Wednesday evening.
“It will be an honest conversation about our way forward, our way in 2024,” Nikiforov said.
He said that “we will talk about various aspects of Ukraine’s future, including the future of the army and its development, the introduction of modern technologies, our integration into the EU and NATO, what has already been done, security guarantees. We will talk about mental and physical health. We will talk about business support. We will talk about many aspects of the country’s life…”
“Following this conference, the President of Ukraine will take the floor and hold a press conference. He will outline his vision of the topics and answer the main questions,” Nikiforov added.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden online in the near future. The Head of State told Inter TV journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Conference on Saturday, February 17.
“We will be in constant contact with Biden, we have agreed on this. I won’t tell you some details, but I think we will meet online in the framework of the G7 meeting in the near future,” the president said.
He noted that he was in constant contact with the United States at various levels, with the White House and with congressmen.
Zelenskyy also emphasized that during a telephone conversation with the American president on February 17, he assured him that he would support Ukraine and do everything to ensure a positive outcome.
“I am confident that the United States will remain our strategic partner,” the head of state said.
Cypriot citizen Vadym Iermolaiev, owner of the 18-enterprise Alef diversified corporation, whose assets were estimated by Forbes Ukraine at $220 million before the war, has been added to the Ukrainian sanctions list.
Presidential Decree No. 850 of December 23, among other things, blocks its assets for 10 years, revokes or suspends licenses and other permits, prohibits participation in privatization and the purchase of land, and suspends the fulfillment of economic and financial obligations.
Alef-Vinal-Crimea LLC is also on the list of legal entities subject to sanctions.
According to the website, the main assets of the Alef Corporation include UDK Gazbeton, manufacturers of PVC profile Miroplast and window and door fittings Axor Industry, apple exporter Sady Dnipra and Agroalliance, ALEF Estate, SEZ Potoky, medical device manufacturer ABM Technology, pipe manufacturer Oscar, and concrete producer Elba.
The corporation and Mr. Yermolaiev have not yet publicly commented on the sanctions.
Another decree No. 851 of the same day imposed sanctions, in particular, against Leonid (Len) Blavatnik, a British citizen, ex-partner of Russian businessmen Viktor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska, founder and chairman of the board of directors of Acces Industries, a holding company and investment firm that estimates its diversified portfolio of investments worldwide at more than $35 billion. In particular, it is the majority owner of Warner Music Group. Other assets include DAZN Group and LyondelBassel.
The list also includes Ukrainian citizen Vyacheslav Yutkin, who until 2016 was the first deputy chairman of Prominvestbank, a Ukrainian subsidiary of the Russian VEB that invested in Ukrainian real estate.
As of May 2018, he was the owner of the Hlibivka country house hotel near Kyiv, the Yaremche Club boutique hotel (Yaremche, Ivano-Frankivsk region), the Pushcha Congress Hotel (Pushcha-Vodytsia, Kyiv region), and the five-star boutique hotel Bank Hotel Congress Hall Art Butik (Lviv).
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou during a working visit to Argentina.
As reported on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state on Sunday, Zelensky thanked for Uruguay’s position within the International Maritime Organization in support of the resolution on the impact of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine on international shipping, adopted in December this year.
“Today I have the opportunity to personally thank you and the people of your country for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is working to implement the Ukrainian formula for peace, which is one of the key political instruments to end the war. He praised the participation of the Uruguayan representative in the third meeting of national security and foreign policy advisers on the implementation of the Peace Formula.
The President of Ukraine expressed hope for the participation of the Uruguayan side in the fourth meeting of the advisers in January next year, where, inter alia, it is planned to discuss the preparation of the first inaugural Global Peace Summit.
Special attention was paid to the possibility of holding a Ukraine-Latin America summit.
Zelenskyy invited Luis Lacalle Pou to pay a visit to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has informed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy about talks with representatives of Bulgaria and Romania.
“This area of cross-border cooperation is obviously growing now. I thank our partners. This is the work of the sea corridor, the Danube export cluster, and the trade turnover between our countries in general,” Zelensky said in a video message on Monday.
“With Romania alone, we see the potential for growth to 4 million tons of trade by the end of this year. This is very powerful and supports not only our state, not only jobs in Ukraine, but also in partner countries,” the president said.
Zelenskyy is confident that “we will add Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and the entire European Union to our cooperation.”
During a conversation with African journalists, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed holding a Ukraine-African Union summit and said he was ready to come to any African country for this purpose.
According to the head of state, Ukraine is interested in strategic partnership with the states of the African continent, but such a partnership should be based on mutual respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, language and traditions.
“This should be in the cultural plane, in the economic plane, and in respect between people. Without violating your and our rights, without affecting your and our freedom. We respect any state that respects us,” he said.
As the next step in the development of strategic cooperation, Zelenskyy announced his readiness to visit any state on the African continent.
“I do not have any priorities here (regarding a particular African state – IF-U). I think that if we can organize ourselves where we can meet, so that I have maximum contact with as many leaders, as many communities as possible, I think that would be better. And I would like to have the opportunity to organize such a meeting “African Union – Ukraine” or “Ukraine – countries of the African continent,” the president said.
“To be honest, I don’t care what the format is called. The main goal is for us all to do our best to achieve stability in the world and to achieve peace on the territory of our country. And to put the question not only in Russia, but with this war and the end of this war to put in place any aggressor with any colonial ambitions for the future,” he added.
As he emphasized, this is also very important for the future, because such things, such outbreaks and such wars can happen anywhere in the world.
