Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak had a meeting with the ambassadors of the G7 countries. His deputies Ihor Zhovkva, Andriy Smyrnov and Yulia Svyrydenko also took part in the meeting.
First of all, Andriy Yermak informed the diplomats about the security situation in Donbas and near the borders of Ukraine and about the progress of negotiations on ending the war and establishing peace, in particular at the level of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format.
He noted that at the last video conference of advisers on April 19, due to the position of the Russian Federation, it was not possible to agree on the text of a joint statement in support of the resumption of the ceasefire in Donbas. On the other hand, on April 20, during the meeting of the TCG working group on security issues, the full text was practically agreed with the amendments of the Ukrainian side on measures to support the ceasefire.
"I hope that a way out will be found to effectively monitor the ceasefire violation with the mediation of the OSCE SMM. The Ukrainian side also suggested that the TCG security group unconditionally convene in cases of casualties due to the shelling in Donbas. We believe that there should be a stricter responsibility for sniper attacks," Andriy Yermak said.
In addition, the Head of the President's Office noted that the process of mutual release of detainees is not moving forward.
"Ukraine has stated that we are ready to hand over five people on the eve of Easter. These are mostly women and ill people. Unfortunately, we haven't heard anything from the other side yet," he said.
Andriy Yermak also stressed that Ukraine, like the entire international community, demands and expects the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's borders, and that diplomatic pressure from the G7 countries is important for this.
In addition, according to him, the support for Ukraine's path to the EU and NATO by the G7 countries is extremely important.
Andriy Yermak noted that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team are determined to restart the Constitutional Court. To this end, on April 20, the President signed a decree on the establishment of a contest committee for the selection of candidates for judges of the CCU under the President's quota. In this regard, Andriy Yermak asked the G7 ambassadors to nominate world-renowned constitutional law experts from their countries who could take part in the work of this committee.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Yulia Svyrydenko told the diplomats that the reform of Ukroboronprom will involve the creation of two large holding companies and the corporatization of its member companies.
For his part, Deputy Head of the President’s Office Andriy Smyrnov announced the preparation of a law in the framework of the judicial reform, which will provide for the creation of a disciplinary body separate from the High Council of Justice, leaving the HCJ with little power. Preparations are also underway for the adoption in the second reading of amendments to the law on the Security Service of Ukraine.