Contents tagged with Ukraine

  • Kyiv rejects Kremlin’s gas proposal

    Yuriy Vitrenko, business development director of Naftogaz of Ukraine, wrote a comment on Facebook about Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s suggestion that Russia and Ukraine withdraw all gas-related disputes and claims.

    Medvedev had said previously that Russia and Ukraine will have to reach an agreement that both parties like. “Whether they want it or not, it’s clear that in this situation we’ll have to come some sort of zero option,” said the prime minister, noting that Kyiv could buy …

  • US Defense Secretary announces new military aid tranche for Ukraine

    The US Defense Department is preparing to send Ukraine another military assistance tranche, said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Voice of America reports.

    “We have another tranche coming up at this time. I think it’s around $250 million, and the Department of Defense supported it last time. I imagine we’ll support it next time around. But there are always checks we have to do. We always look for how it is being used and whether they are addressing corruption,” said Mark Esper.

    When asked …

  • Lithuanian President calls on Russia to implement Minsk agreements

    Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda expressed support for Ukraine before the Normandy Four meeting.

    Nausėda said that Lithuania continues to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and calls on the Kremlin to implement the Minsk agreements.

    "The Normandy Summit is approaching. Lithuania strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We urge Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements," wrote the Lithuanian President on his Twitter.

    Earlier, German …

  • Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council approves main scenario of Donbas reintegration

    During a press conference after the Ukrainian National Security and Defense (NSDC) council meeting headed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 7, the NSDC's Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that the main scenario for the reintegration of the Donbas territories that are temporarily not controlled by Kyiv was chosen.

    "Today at a meeting of the NSDC, we approved one of the scenarios which will be implemented as the main one. The reintegration envisages bringing back to Ukraine the …

  • Kyiv is ready to accept payment of Gazprom's debt with gas

    Executive Director of Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group Yuriy Vitrenko wrote on his Facebook page that negotiations between the heads of Ukraine's Naftogaz, Russian gas giant Gazprom and the new Ukrainian pipeline operator, “ Ukraine’s GTS (gas transmission system) operator”.

    According to him, they talked about the future gas transit. He said that the European Commission asked the parties to discuss the settlement of the past claims and current rulings of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Gazprom …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine has collected $2.1 billion from Russia’s Gazprom

    Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev told LigaBusiness in an interview that, in reality, the company has managed to collect $2.1 billion from Gazprom in the form of gas that Ukraine did not completely pay for, in other words 45% of the compensation awarded to Kyiv by the Arbitration Institute in February 2018. Kobolyev noted that the amount went “almost entirely to the Ukrainian budget”. According to him, taking into account the accrued interest, Kyiv is still planning to collect another $3 billion …

  • Russia: negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine to take place next week

    Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union on gas transit could take place next week, reports TASS.

    The meeting was initially scheduled for December 5. However, Ukrainian Energy Ministry confirmed that this round of negotiations will not take place. The Ukrainian Ministry noted that "the date has not yet been confirmed."

    According to Novak, the parties can meet "at any time." The primary condition is that Gazprom and Naftogaz prepare …

  • Kyiv files lawsuit against pro-Russian militants for executing Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas

    The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (GPU) has informed the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague about the summary execution of nine Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by Russian occupation forces during the battles of Ilovaisk and Debaltseve.

    “The notice essentially consists of the facts of the extrajudicial executions of nine soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine by members of the pro-Russian organized group Cossack Union Don Army Region …

  • Putin calls Ukraine’s gas transit terms unacceptable

    Ukraine has proposed economically unacceptable terms for gas transit, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference on Wednesday after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Moscow, the Kremlin’s press service reports.

    “We are prepared to keep Ukrainian transit, we are currently conducting negotiations about it in Vienna. While’s it’s true that the terms offered to us by the Ukrainian transiters are possible, they’re still economically unacceptable. But I hope that it’ …

  • Zelensky claims he did not know US military aid for Ukraine was frozen when he spoke to Trump

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that when he spoke to US President Donald Trump on the phone, he was unaware that the US was blocking part of its military assistance. He also said that the Trump impeachment scandal is not influencing his work.

    “With all respect to our strategic partner, Ukraine is independent and we have higher priority problems,” he responded at a press conference after meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

    On December 3, citing former Ukrainian …