News, events, statements

A statement by Oleksiy Reznikov, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, a representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, who called the Donbass a "cancerous tumour" on the body of Ukraine, and its inhabitants – "mentally sick", gives evidence of reinforcement of the "war party" that is trying to continue the line of escalation of the conflict in the East of Ukraine.

“These are sick territories, mentally sick as well. There is an option of complete resection, amputation, or treatment. I am for therapy and full restoration of our body,” said Reznikov, making it clear that he is far from seeking compromises in this matter.

It is noteworthy that such statements are made at a time when the self-proclaimed republics submit their roadmap for resolving the conflict to the Ukrainian side for consideration, and this project has many positive and acceptable points. At the very least, this document could be seen as significant progress in the negotiations. The Ukrainian side had to say its word. If statement by Reznikov is Ukraine's response, then it is the Ukrainian side that now demonstrates its inability to negotiate, in the eyes of the world community.

The current situation related to the Constitutional Court’s decision to abolish e-declarations system, and the presidential bill on the termination of powers of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine highlighted two major problems that deal a heavy blow to the foundations of statehood: firstly, the interference of the Office of the President in the activities of the judicial branch, and, secondly, the interference of foreign states in the internal affairs of Ukraine.

The foundation for the current conflict was laid by Petro Poroshenko’s regime, by his so-called reform of justice and judicial system. The parliament lost its power to dismiss judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine for violation of their oath precisely as a result of changes to the Constitution in 2016. In the course of the so-called “lustration,” many professional lawyers were dismissed, hundreds of courts were dissolved, and “manually managed” puppet judges loyal to the authorities were appointed. Ten out of fifteen judges of the current Constitutional Court of Ukraine were also appointed by Petro Poroshenko’s regime. The politicization of the constitutional justice system is the main reason why the incumbent Constitutional Court, for example, has been unsuccessful in considering the constitutional petition on termination of lustration for more than six years, and the language law petition for more than a year.

Dear compatriots!

76 years ago, on 28 October 1944, after the successful Eastern Carpathian strategic offensive, the Soviet Army came up to the western border of the Ukrainian SSR. Ukraine was liberated from the Nazis.

We will always remember our soldiers-liberators who defeated the German Nazi invaders. We will remember those who fought on the front line, and those who expedited the Victory in the rear, soldiers, mothers, and children. This memory is a true identity and genetic code of our people – the great victorious people who expelled Nazism from our land and revived the country after the war.

A call for new presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus is a politicized and thoughtless step from the Verkhovna Rada, which could jeopardise Ukraine's relations with this neighbouring state and, in particular, could jeopardise the work of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, destroying the platform for dialogue. This is why I voted against the corresponding draft Resolution in the Parliament today.

Only interests of Ukraine, and not those of third parties, should be the priority of our foreign policy. And interests of Ukraine consist in preserving and developing good neighbourly relations with the Republic of Belarus.

Belarus and its President Alexander Lukashenko have always been very correct and friendly towards Ukraine, not recognizing the annexation of Crimea and providing a platform for negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donbas.

Dear schoolchildren, teachers and parents! And especially first graders!

Today, all of us together with you are opening a new page in life – some of you go to school for the first time, someone takes their child there for the first time, and some of you first ever sit down at a university bench. 

Today, our special thanks go to teachers who are meeting their pupils and students. After parents and family, they are the ones who help us take our first steps into adulthood.

And only having grown up and matured, we realize that years of studies give us much more than just a diploma or certificate. And today many of us, adults, sincerely wish to hear the school bell again and experience this joyful expectation of something new and interesting coming.

During school years, we get the main skill – the ability to learn and cognize. It makes us competitive and successful in modern life. And the common success of our country consists of your future successes.