Politics & Economics

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has informed IAEA General Director Rafael Grossi in a phone call about the large-scale consequences of a terrorist attack by Russia that blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The head of state announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. "In a phone call, I informed IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi about the large-scale consequences of the Russian act of terrorism at the Kakhovka HPP dam. We discussed ways to minimize risks to ZNPP security," Zelensky said. In addition, during the call, an agreement was reached on Grossi's visit to Ukraine. Read also: Who…

European Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday that he is "shocked by the unprecedented attack" on the Kakhovka dam. He reiterated that the destruction of civilian infrastructure qualifies as a war crime and that Russia "and its proxies" will be held accountable. Earlier, Ukrainian authorities said the dam on the Dnieper was destroyed in a Russian attack together with the associated hydroelectric power plant. Michel added he will raise the issue at the next European Council meeting and propose more assistance to the flooded areas.

Now is the time to start discussing the right steps regarding Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Ukrainian Ambassador to the USA Oksana Markarova stated this on the Face The Nation show on CBS News, Ukrinform reports. "We all look forward to the summit (NATO - ed.). Ukraine has NATO aspirations, Transatlantic aspirations in our hearts, in our Constitution, and the majority of people support them. (…) We believe it is time to start discussing some specific steps in this regard," she said. According to Markarova, the Ukrainian side understands the current limitations on joining NATO against the…

The Ukrainian authorities want to hear about concrete steps that both sides — NATO and Ukraine — must take to achieve membership of the Alliance in the shortest period of time. That’s according to Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov, who spoke with Politico, Ukrinform reports. “We would like to hear the plan or roadmap, or a list of actions to be done by both sides — NATO and Ukraine — to achieve the membership in a very short period of time,” Havrylov said. While he recognized this would not be possible while the war remains ongoing, “at the same time,…

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov discussed bilateral cooperation with Minister of Defense of Japan Yasukazu Hamada at a meeting in Singapore. “I had a wonderful conversation with my colleague, Minister of Defense of Japan Yasukazu Hamada. Japan supports Ukraine in its battle to defend freedom and democracy. Our friendship and cooperation will contribute to global peace and stability. This was our first meeting, and I look forward to continuing our dialogue. I invited my Japanese colleague to visit Ukraine,” Reznikov posted on Twitter. As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited the 48th G7 summit in Japan in…

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has dismissed a peace initiative recently proposed by his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore. That’s according to the South China Morning Post, Ukrinform reports. “I will try to be polite,” Reznikov said, before starting his response to a question about the Indonesian plan. “It sounds like [a] Russian plan, not [an] Indonesian plan,” he added, before branding the proposal a “strange plan” that had not been discussed with him. Read also: Ukraine's peace plan only way to end war - Zelensky’s aide The plan suggests an immediate ceasefire…

During their visit to Lithuania, representatives of NATO parliaments expressed the opinion that their countries should increase defense spending and accept Ukraine into the Alliance. This was reported by Delfi with reference to the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Ukrinform saw. "Actually, there is agreement on the issue of the need to increase (defense – ed.) spending of individual countries, and on the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO – practically everyone who spoke sees this country among NATO allies. We hope it will happen as soon as possible," Čmilytė-Nielsen said .Read also: Stefanchuk meets with Lithuanian president,…

The heads of the foreign affairs committees of the parliaments of the NATO member countries have adopted a statement on support for Ukraine's membership in NATO. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk said this in a post on his Facebook page, according to Ukrinform. "The heads of the foreign affairs committees of the parliaments of the NATO member countries call on the Alliance and the heads of state and government to hold the Vilnius NATO summit in order to determine the path of Ukraine's accession to NATO and to provide clear and strong security guarantees for Ukraine," the speaker said. According…

Ukraine can anticipate a very robust package of political and practical support at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July this year. According to Ukrinform, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this in Oslo on June 1 during an informal meeting of foreign ministers of allied countries. "With regard to Ukraine, I think, based on the discussions today, the first thing I'd say is that at Vilnius, when the leaders meet for the summit, we and our friends in Ukraine can anticipate a very robust package of both political and practical support," he said. According to Blinken, the alliance…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that new defense decisions, which concern air defense systems, fighter jets and the Ukrainian army's advance on the ground, are being prepared. He said this in a daily address on Thursday, June 1, according to Ukrinform. Zelensky said that this morning, the Ukrainian delegation was in Moldova for the Summit of the European Political Community. "This is the center of political discussions on our continent now. We had very important negotiations. The President of Moldova and the President of France, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the European Commission,…