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Scoop of the day: UK premier pledges support for Ukraine on Kyiv visit

Scoop of the day: UK premier pledges support for Ukraine on Kyiv visit

UK-Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the UK will allocate about another 2bn pounds for the implementation of joint projects with Ukraine, including in infrastructure and energy.

He said this during a press conference following talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Kyiv.

"We have agreed to start negotiations on trade liberalisation. In addition to funds for the Ukrainian Navy, the UK is allocating almost 2bn pounds more for the implementation of specific and mutually beneficial projects with Ukraine in other areas, in particular, infrastructure and energy," Zelenskyy said.

Opposition to Nord Stream

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal have jointly asked Germany not to launch Nord Stream 2 because it would be an element of blackmail for Europe by Russia.

"By launching Nord Stream 2, Berlin is providing shells for Putin's weapon with which he can then blackmail Europe," Morawiecki said during a joint press conference with the Ukrainian prime minister.

They discussed further opposition to the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and agreed that the project poses a threat to the whole of Europe.

Polish aid

Poland is ready to provide Ukraine with military assistance, including ammunition, man-portable air defence systems and drones, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a briefing for the Polish media before his visit to Ukraine.

US military aid

On 1 February, the sixth plane from the USA with defence assistance arrived in Ukraine. It delivered 84 tonnes of ammunition, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Facebook.

"Not even 24 hours have passed since the arrival of the fifth bird, and we are already unloading the sixth! Today another load of ammunition arrived in Kyiv - 84 tonnes of live ammunition for small arms. All in all, as of today we have received about 500 tonnes of defence ammunition from our friends and partners - the United States. And this is not the end either," Reznikov said.

Tripartite alliance

Ukraine, Poland and the UK are creating a new format of cooperation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed during a speech in parliament. He did not give details of the format yet.

"We are creating a new format of political cooperation between Ukraine, Britain and Poland," he said.

Zelenskyy also said that on his initiative, together with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the ministers of Ukraine and Poland held a meeting during which they reached beneficial agreements in the fields of investment, transportation and transit of goods.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on the new Ukraine-Poland-Great Britain alliance, which has been actively discussed in public domain for several days.

The foreign minister said that the initiative to launch such trilateral cooperation was put forward by Ukraine last October.

"Warsaw, Kyiv and London have not only a realistic awareness of threats to European security and a strategy for countering challenges from the Russian Federation, but also a great potential for trilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, energy, particularly renewable energy. By connecting the Atlantic, the Baltic and the Black Sea, we create new opportunities for our countries and for the region as a whole," Kuleba said.

Minsk deal

Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told AP that forcing the country to fulfill the Minsk agreements on Donbas could trigger internal unrest that would benefit Moscow.

"The fulfillment of the Minsk agreement means the country’s destruction," Danilov said. "When they were signed under the Russian gun barrel — and the German and the French watched — it was already clear for all rational people that it’s impossible to implement those documents."

Ukrainian armed forces

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree on strengthening the state defence capability and military service.

Speaking in parliament, he said that this was done to protect those who defend Ukraine.

"This decree envisages an increase in the monetary security of all military personnel to a level not lower than three minimum wages (currently - 19,500 hryvnyas). Ukraine's transition to the basics of a professional army, increasing the term of contracts, developing the concept of housing for the military, veterans, their families," the president said.

Poll

The incumbent head of state, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would get the most votes in the first round if the presidential election were held in the near future.

According to a poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre, 26% of those who decided for whom they would vote and would go to the polls would vote for him. The second is the fifth president, Petro Poroshenko, with 24.2% support.

Searches

The Metinvest group of companies associated with businessman Rinat Akhmetov said that law enforcers searched its enterprises in Kryvyy Rih on 1 February.

The case concerns suspected tax violations, Metinvest said on its Facebook page.

"The company reports unprecedented unwarranted pressure on the Group's business by law enforcers," it said.

The group of companies said computer equipment was seized during the searches, partially "paralysing business activities".

The Security Service of Ukraine confirmed the searches at Metinvest.

More searches

The State Bureau of Investigation has officially confirmed that searches of the former management of Naftogaz of Ukraine, including Andriy Kobolyev, and of Ukrtranshaz.

The DBI press service said that investigative actions are being carried out at the former head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, the office of Ukrtranshaz and the heads of private companies over the illegal transfer of natural gas worth 2.2bn hryvnyas in 2020.

Crime

Kyiv's Pecherskyy district court has placed former police Col Yuriy Holuban into custody. He was detained in the case of preparing mass unrest in Ukraine.

According to the National Police press service, on 30 January police in Kyiv detained a group of people who were planning mass unrest in the centre of the capital. Provocations and clashes with law enforcers were to take place during the event on 31 January. A number of similar events were planned in several regional capitals of the state in February.

Resignation

The head of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Vladyslava Mahaletska, has resigned, quoting health reasons.

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