Developments in Ukraine | NATO’s reluctance to engage with Russia

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last night in a conference Press in Brussels after meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dimitri Koleba emphasized that the North Atlantic Alliance will not intervene in the military conflict in Ukraine. “NATO is not and will not be a party to this conflict,” he said. NATO only helps the authorities of Kiev to use their right to defend their country.” Stoltenberg pointed out that the representatives of Kiev did not ask for the deployment of NATO military units at the Brussels meetings, but only for an increase in military aid. are, added: “Ukrainians want weapons and ammunition and we provide them, but this does not make NATO become a side of this conflict”. This coalition does not discuss sending military forces to Ukraine, and the actions of this organization are purely defensive in nature. He also added that NATO countries have agreed to strengthen the role of this alliance in coordinating aid to Kyiv. Also, on the same day, the Secretary General of NATO reminded that the bloc’s military supplies for Kiev should be mandatory and not voluntary. Also on Thursday, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressed her opinion that Ukraine is the only appropriate tool. It is for NATO to counter Russia, because this alliance has made the Russian Federation the target of its aggressive policy.

Previously, Politico newspaper reported that due to the possibility of re-election of Donald Trump to the US presidency , the NATO alliance may take over the leadership of the contact group for military support to Ukraine instead of the United States. According to the commentators of this publication, in this case, the continuation of the arms supply to Kiev will be protected from the change of power in the European Union and the United States. Follow Ukraine:

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Destroy 53 Ukrainian attacking drones in five regions of Russia

Ministry The Russian defense reported this morning, Friday, that the country’s air defense systems destroyed 53 Ukrainian attacking drones over five regions of Russia last night.

In the statement published on the telegram channel of this ministry, it is stated: “Air defense forces are on duty over the regions of Rostov (44 drones), Saratov (one drone), Kursk (one drone) and Belgorod (one drone) and also in the sky of the Krasnodar region (6 drones) intercepted and destroyed the armed forces of Ukraine. After the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the level of foreign ministers in Brussels, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dimitri Kolheba, announced that the country deserves to be a member of NATO, and the authorities of Kiev hope to join this NATO as soon as possible.

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He said at the press conference: “Of course, I listened to the words about the prospect of the upcoming summit in Washington about Ukraine’s accession to NATO. Its steps were discussed today. Of course, Ukraine deserves NATO membership and we hope that this happens as soon as possible and not too late. I would like to thank the administration of the President of the United States [Joe Biden] for solving our problems.”

Last night, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also spoke about this and emphasized that Ukraine will eventually join the coalition. The North Atlantic will join, because its members support this political decision.

Blinken said: “Ukraine will finally become a member of NATO. The topic of the Washington summit is to help create a bridge to achieve this goal and develop a path for Ukraine in this way. So far, a lot has been done, and of course, a lot still needs to be done <...> Ukraine defends our principles every day, and this is very important for us.” Anti-aircraft Patriot to Ukraine in NATO

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the Alliance, last night after the end of the Ukraine-NATO Council meeting, announced that the allied countries need to provide air defense systems to Ukraine understand and are considering the possible sending of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to this country.

He told reporters: Allies understand the urgency of providing assistance to Kiev. They also understand the urgency of deploying air defense systems. They will now return (to the capitals) to investigate whether it is possible to provide more air defense systems, especially the Patriot system. Stoltenberg added: “Allies are also able to provide spare parts for air defense systems and They will also check the required missiles. According to him, at the same time, NATO members should collect more weapons and ammunition for Kiev in the coming days and weeks, as well as create a long-term system for mandatory supply of supplies needed by Ukraine.

Germany’s emphasis on finding effective air defense systems for Ukraine German Foreign Minister Analena Barbock emphasized that Berlin again asks its NATO allies to ensure the availability of air defense systems that can sent to Ukraine to investigate.

He said after the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council in Brussels: “After the firm request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine [Dmitry Koleba], we again ask the whole of Europe to check whether they are able to find air defense systems.” that can be offered to Ukraine.

During the Ukraine-NATO meeting, Koleba again asked the member states of this alliance to send the Patriot air defense system to this country. According to him, the reason for Kiev’s insistence is that this is the only system that can shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

He also reminded Western countries that they can supply these systems to Ukraine because There are “a lot of them” in the West.

Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said that Kyiv would need to receive at least 5-7 Patriot systems from the United States to be able to fly from its skies. defend.

Polish Foreign Minister: NATO countries have created a joint mission in Ukraine

Radoslav Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister in Brussels emphasized that the countries NATO has established a joint mission in Ukraine. According to him, the creation of such a mission by NATO does not mean that the alliance is going to participate in the conflict in Ukraine.

The foreign minister explained: “We decided to create a NATO mission in Ukraine.” This does not mean that we intend to intervene in the war, but it does mean that we can now use the coordination, training and planning capabilities of the coalition to provide more coordinated support to Kiev.”

Prime Minister Poland rejected the possibility of direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine

The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in a press conference yesterday that the country does not intend to participate directly in the military conflict in Ukraine .

The Polish Prime Minister refused to comment on the possibility of creating a NATO mission in Ukraine, partly due to the lack of full information about the consequences of such an action. He said: “At this moment, I can repeat what I have said to French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as to other leaders, including [US] President Joe Biden: Poland does not envisage direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine.” /p>

Hungary’s opposition to the creation of a military aid fund for Kyiv by NATO

Peter Szijártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary, after meeting with his counterparts from other countries ally in Brussels, emphasized that Hungary, like a number of other NATO member states, does not intend to help create a 100 billion euro military aid fund for Ukraine. If approved for a 5-year period, an additional cost of 10 billion euros will be imposed on the Hungarian budget. And I would like to repeat once again that no Hungarian taxpayers’ money will be spent to implement such a decision that threatens war. .”

Scijarto pointed out that he was not the only one who opposed the creation of such a fund, adding: however, other members, including one of the major NATO countries, also supported this theory from a financial point of view. criticized.

Budapest plans to maintain the ban on grain imports from Ukraine

Hungarian Foreign Minister announced last night in a press conference in Brussels that Budapest authorities will maintain the ban on grain imports from Ukraine despite pressure from the European Union. According to Peter Szijártó, Hungary intends to maintain the embargo, otherwise it will have to see the defeat of Hungarian farmers. “As for the ban on the import of agricultural goods from Ukraine, I must say that we will maintain it,” he explained. Of course, there is still a lot of pressure from the European Union to cancel this ban. But removing it will lead to the real failure of Hungarian farmers and we cannot allow it.

Hungarian authorities banned the import of grain from Ukraine in the middle of September 2023. Transit of Ukrainian agricultural products throughout the country is still allowed, but no more than 15 days are allowed for the transportation of these products.

The press office of the Hungarian government announced that Budapest will ban the import of Ukrainian grain until any time. which will be kept if necessary. Later, in January, the European Commission also gave Ukraine’s neighboring countries the right to nationally ban agricultural imports from there to protect local farmers.

IMF The outlook for Ukraine’s economy is not clear

Julie Kozak, director of communications at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced that due to the continued military conflict in Ukraine and delays in foreign financing, the outlook for the economy of Ukraine The country is unknown. “Forecasting in this regard remains a matter of uncertainty and uncertainty,” Kozak said, noting that the risks associated with ongoing military conflict and delays in foreign financing are “exceptionally high.” >

According to Kozak, the International Monetary Fund will continue to interact with the Ukrainian authorities to maintain the macro-economic and financial stability of this country and of course the need for them to implement reforms.

At the end of March, first Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal said that this year the country will receive an amount equal to 1.5 billion dollars from the United Kingdom and Japan within the framework of the World Bank program. Canada receives to offset the country’s budget deficit.

In early March, it was reported that the public debt of the Ukrainian government has quadrupled in the past nine years, reaching $5.5 thousand per person.

Laurov called China’s peace plan for Ukraine the most reasonable plan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his opinion that the plan proposed by China to resolve the conflict in Ukraine compared to the strategies of other countries, it is the clearest and most reasonable plan in this field.

He told reporters yesterday: “The clearest plan was presented by China last year, which includes 12 points and a set of principles and approaches. Our Chinese friends said they would first like to agree on all these principles with the other participants.”

Lavrov explained that unlike the “peace formula” proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which is an “imposed menu, anti- And it is contradictory and ultimatum-like”, China’s plan is such that all its 12 points are related and dependent.” According to him, the key points of the Chinese plan are the resumption of peace talks and respect for the sovereignty of all countries in compliance with the United Nations Charter. The Russian Foreign Minister added: Today, he discussed with the ambassadors of foreign countries about the West’s plans for greater participation. The countries of the world discussed the idea of ​​”Zelensky Formula”. However, discussing the settlement in Ukraine without the participation of Russia, which is the plan of the President of Ukraine, is simply a waste of time.

Russian Foreign Minister: Negotiations on Ukraine should not be with Zelensky To be done

Sergei Lavrov also announced after his meeting with foreign ambassadors in Moscow that after the last negotiations held in Istanbul in 2022, the Russian side realized that for the settlement The conflict in Ukraine should be discussed with someone other than Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine.

The Russian foreign minister added, “Even when his legitimacy [Zelensky] was not questioned by anyone and everyone considered him as the president. Ukraine was recognized, the understanding was reached in Moscow that one should not negotiate with such a person. And the belief that such talks are futile arose right after the failure of the Istanbul talks in April 2022. Talk to Zelensky, but to those who “forbid or allow” him. Lavrov also noted: “Mr. Zelensky recently “kindly” said that peace talks can be started from the borders of February 2022. “Well, there’s no harm in dreaming.”

Lavrov: Russia is not to blame for the impasse around Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the situation around Ukraine has reached a real impasse Of course, it was not Russia that pushed the situation to the other side. He told reporters: “The situation around Ukraine has reached a deadlock, but we did not bring it to a deadlock.” the “security area” to negotiate, Russia is ready for this and there is no need to draw a line in the form of the “peace formula” proposed by Vladimir Zelensky, for negotiations and the condition for its initiation.

A significant reduction in the level of support Ukrainians from Zelensky

Ukrayinska Pravda, referring to the results of the rating research group, reported that the number of Ukrainian citizens who fully approve of Volodymyr Zelensky’s performance as the country’s president is from From September 2023 to February 2024, it decreased from 42% to 22%.

The report states: “In February of this year, compared to September 2023, the share of Ukrainians who completely disapproved of Vladimir’s performance Zelensky is satisfied, it has decreased from 42% to 22%.”

Furthermore, 18% of respondents said that they disapprove of “most” actions of the head of state. Another 15 percent of the participants in this survey answered that they are “completely dissatisfied” with his policies.

The Rating Institute poll was conducted from February 17 to 21 using telephone interviews with more than 2,000 respondents over the age of 18. The year was conducted in different regions of Ukraine.

Ukraine became one of the top 10 countries in terms of receiving US financial assistance for mine clearance

The report published by the Office of Military-Political Affairs of the US Department of State shows According to the data, Ukraine entered the top 10 countries in this field from 1993 to 2022 in terms of funds received from this ministry for the program to destroy conventional weapons and their consequences. It receives from the United States government to clear the minefields in this country, and as a result, it was ranked 7th among the countries with the most funds under this program. Iraq is at the top of the list with 675.6 thousand dollars. And after that, Afghanistan with 573.7 thousand dollars and Laos with 355 thousand dollars.

The goal of this program of the US State Department is to reduce the global harmful effects of “proliferated conventional weapons of war and their indiscriminate use”. It is.

The European Union admitted: there is no hope for the collapse of the Russian economy due to sanctions

Joseph Borrell, the head of the EU’s foreign and defense policy Europe admitted that Brussels officials now understood that the sanctions would not lead to the collapse of Russia’s economy, but hoped to weaken Russia’s military potential.

He wrote in a post on the official website of the EU diplomatic service: “From the very beginning, it was unlikely that the Russian economy would collapse. In the last two years, the European Union constantly emphasized that the impact of the sanctions would not be quick, but their goal was to weaken Russia’s military potential.”

According to Burrell , the European coal and oil embargo and oil export price restrictions imposed by the Group of 7 led to a decrease in Russia’s energy revenues. He added: “The goal of the European Union was never to prevent Russia from exporting fossil fuels, which could cause a serious crisis in the global energy markets. The head of EU diplomacy also admitted that Moscow has succeeded in circumvent foreign sanctions.

Putin: unemployment rate fell to 2.8% in February

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 12th Congress of Trade Unions The country’s independent said unemployment is now at its lowest level in the country, falling to 2.8 percent in February.

He said: “Thanks to the government’s actions, the business sectors, Regions and trade unions, we achieved a significant reduction in the unemployment rate, and today it is at its lowest level, less than 3 percent.” Putin pointed to the positive dynamics in Russia and emphasized that In 2023, unemployment was 2.9%, and in February 2024, this level decreased to 2.8%. Emphasizing that this situation is one of the most important indicators of the state of the entire economy, he added: Russia is not at risk of unemployment in the coming years and job security has improved in the country.

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