Latest news with #UkrainianParliament
Russia Today
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ex-Ukrainian presidential adviser shot dead in Spain
Former Ukrainian lawmaker and presidential adviser Andrey Portnov was fatally shot in a suburb of the Spanish capital, Madrid, on Wednesday, local media has reported. The circumstances of the murder suggest it may have been an 'extrajudicial execution,' as Portnov may have had access to information that could threaten figures in Vladimir Zelensky's administration, Rodion Miroshnik, Russia's ambassador-at-large overseeing a special mission on alleged Ukrainian war crimes, has said. The killing occurred in Pozuelo de Alarcon, according to the newspaper El Pais. Portnov, 51, was reportedly approached by two or three assailants and shot at least five times, including three times in the head, while inspecting the trunk of his Mercedes car, near a private school attended by his children. Spanish authorities have confirmed a homicide took place in the area but are yet to formally identify the victim. Portnov, a lawyer by training, served in the Ukrainian parliament from 2006 to 2010. He later joined President Viktor Yanukovich's administration, overseeing judicial reform as deputy chief of staff and helping draft a new criminal code that was adopted in 2012. In 2014, Portnov fled Ukraine following the Western-backed armed coup in Kiev that ousted Yanukovich's government. Despite going into exile, he remained active in Ukrainian political discourse, frequently appearing on national television. Portnov returned to the country in 2019 to support presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky. After Zelensky won the election, Portnov filed several legal complaints against outgoing President Pyotr Poroshenko, alleging various offenses committed during his time in office. None of those cases resulted in convictions. He reportedly left Ukraine again in June 2022. At the time, Ukrainian media described him as being aligned with 'pro-Russian media' outlets that had been shut down by the Zelensky administration and he was accused of making disparaging remarks about the nature of the 2014 coup. Portnov has been listed since at least 2015 by Mirotvorets, a controversial semi-official public database that catalogs individuals deemed enemies of Ukraine. Several people listed by the site have been murdered over its decade of operation. Ukrainian intelligence services have previously claimed or implied involvement in a number of targeted killings of individuals labeled as enemies by Kiev. Some of those assassinations have occurred outside Ukraine, including the December 2023 shooting of former Ukrainian lawmaker Ilya Kiva near Moscow.
Al Jazeera
08-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Ukraine's parliament ratifies landmark minerals deal with US
Ukrainian legislators have unanimously voted to ratify a minerals deal with the United States in the hope of securing military assistance to deter future Russian aggression. The country's parliament gave its assent to the agreement, which grants the US priority access to Ukrainian minerals and sets up an investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction, with 338 members voting in favour and none against it. Ukraine's First Vice Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Thursday that the deal, which stops short of offering security guarantees but has raised hopes of revived US support, was 'the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner'. The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States. This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner. — Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) May 8, 2025The deal, signed by the US and Ukraine at the end of April, was approved despite legislators' concerns over a lack of detail regarding issues such as how the reconstruction fund will be governed and how contributions will be made. In a news conference earlier that day, Svyrydenko had sought to assuage these concerns, indicating the deal would be operational in a few weeks. 'We have managed to ensure that the agreement is equitable. The key principle is that management is 50-50. Neither side has an advantage, there is no dictatorship from either side, and decisions are taken by consensus,' she said. Svyrydenko underlined on X that the deal has no 'debt provisions', absolving Ukraine from earlier US demands that it cover the repayment of billions of dollars in military aid supplied by Washington since Russia invaded in February 2022. Ukraine managed to obtain the concession despite getting off to a bad start in negotiations back in February, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed with US President Donald Trump during a testy Oval Office sit-down. Kyiv was initially hoping the US would provide security guarantees to help deter future Russian attacks, in exchange for preferential access to Ukraine's mineral resources. But Washington refused, instead arguing that boosting its business interests in Ukraine would itself act as a bulwark against Russia.
Al Arabiya
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Ukraine ratifies strategic minerals deal with US
The Ukrainian parliament ratified a milestone minerals deal with the United States on Thursday, lawmakers said. A total of 338 parliamentarians voted in favor of ratification, and no one voted against, said Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee. The agreement grants the US preferential access to Ukrainian mineral resources and paves a path for possible new military aid for Kyiv, although it lacks clear security guarantees.
Reuters
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukraine's parliament ratifies minerals deal with US, hopes for more arms
KYIV, May 8 (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday in favour of ratifying a minerals deal signed with the United States, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure future military assistance from Washington in its fight to repel Russian troops. Despite misgivings by some Ukrainian lawmakers over whether the government had provided them with all the information on the deal and over some of its compromises, 338 voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with none against. "The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States," First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a post on X. "This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner." Some lawmakers had raised concerns over the lack of detail of some of the deal's provisions, such as how an envisaged investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction would be governed or how any contributions would be made. Svyrydenko called an early Thursday press conference to answer some of those concerns, saying the investment fund would be operational in a few weeks, and its success would depend on the level of U.S. engagement. Two supplements would spell out the details and would be published at a later date, officials have said about the deal which might not see a payoff for a decade or longer. Parliament's ratification comes a day before Russia - which launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine in February 2022 - will try to show its strength at a military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Those preparations have been overshadowed by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia, and Kyiv will hope the ratification of the minerals deal will bolster its position in ceasefire talks, which so far have done little to close the gap between Moscow and Kyiv, to the frustration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Russia's demands for Ukraine to cede all the land Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed and accept permanent neutrality have been rejected by Kyiv, which says that would amount to surrender and leave the nation undefended. Ukraine has expressed readiness to accept a U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and has accused the Kremlin of ignoring the plan. Putin has proposed a ceasefire of only three days - from May 8-10. The minerals deal, signed last month in Washington, hands the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and sets up the investment fund, which could be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine for the first 10 years. After months of fraught talks that almost fell apart at a disastrous meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in February, the deal also hands Kyiv some wins: no return of aid that Trump says Kyiv owes and a U.S. acknowledgement of Kyiv's intention to join the European Union. Ukraine also sees the deal as a route to unlock the delivery of new U.S. weapons, especially additional Patriot air defence systems it badly needs to repel Russia's increasingly frequent missile attacks. The deal offered no clear guarantee of that. The agreement, which Zelenskiy says offers Ukraine a better deal than previous drafts - which some in Kyiv had described as "colonial", - is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with Trump after the Oval office meeting. Some Ukrainian lawmakers praised the government's efforts to influence Trump's position, which initially appeared to favour Russia. "Trump's initial position is changing by millimetres, but so far its movement is in the right direction," Inna Sovsun, a lawmaker from the Holos opposition party, said on Facebook, adding that while she might not like the deal's "mercantile" nature, it was important to show that Ukraine is a "constructive party". Some 47% of Ukrainians support the deal, while 22% say it might have negative consequences and 19% say it will have no impact, according to researchers at the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Reuters
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukraine ratifies strategic minerals deal with US
May 8 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian parliament ratified a milestone minerals deal with the United States on Thursday, lawmakers said. A total of 338 parliamentarians voted in favor of ratification, and no one voted against, said Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee. The agreement grants the U.S. preferential access to Ukrainian mineral resources and paves a path for possible new military aid for Kyiv, although it lacks clear security guarantees.
