Pulse of The Week 2: Ukrainian public opinion on the issues of the day

Pulse of the Week is a newly launched newsletter that presents not only the issues of the day in Ukraine, but also presents public opinion on those issues, and the personalities involved.

Pulse of the Week is a joint project of the Active Group and the Center for Research on Corporate Relations. Here we present the second edition of what will be a weekly news digest.

The field office of the International Criminal Court has commenced operations in Kyiv

The field office of the International Criminal Court, which is the largest representative office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) outside The Hague, has started working in Kyiv.

This was announced by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan.

“This is a new chapter of our cooperation. The work of the office will help strengthen the interaction between Ukraine and the International Criminal Court. It will make responding to the crimes that Russia continues to commit against Ukraine and Ukrainians every day, more effective and efficient” Kostin explained.

In his turn, Khan asserted that “the law must be at the forefront,” and “I believe that what we see in the issues of the partnership of the International Criminal Court with Ukraine, the development of partnership with civil society, with other UN member states, state and non-state participants of the ICC, – this is not just a spark. This is the dawn of a new time in which we must show, and we do show, endurance and perseverance, ensuring that our words are not empty words. They are felt by the victims both in Ukraine, where I have the honor to be now, and all over the world,.”

“We are completely open and transparent. We provide all necessary materials, access to crime scenes, evidence and testimonies. We are doing everything in our power so that the experts of the International Criminal Court are able to see the consequences of the aggressor’s crimes with their own eyes and make their own unbiased conclusions,” Kostin said.

The OGP also noted that currently more than 104,000 war crimes have been registered in Ukraine, and their number is growing daily.

Sources: Espreso, Radio Svoboda, UNIAN

Sham elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine: how the world reacts

Russia announced it would conduct a so-called “elections” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine on September 8-10. UNIAN gathered the world’s reaction to this event.

“Canada will never recognize the results of the fictitious “elections” that Vladimir Putin organized this week in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Putin cannot redraw the map as he pleases. The territory of Ukraine remains Ukraine,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan emphasized that Azerbaijan and Ukraine recognize and support each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley wrote: “You cannot hold an election in a foreign country. Russia’s fake “elections” in Ukraine are a shameful attempt to legitimize its baseless claims to sovereign Ukrainian territory.”

The US State Department stated that “the United States will never recognize the claims of the Russian Federation to any sovereign territory of Ukraine,” and also reminded individuals who may support Russian sham elections in Ukraine, including those acting as so-called “international observers”, about possible sanctions against them.

Japan emphasized that Russia has no right to hold “elections” in the occupied territories of Ukraine: “Japan strongly condemns this, as such an act is absolutely unacceptable. It is also absolutely unacceptable for Russia to hold such “elections” in these regions on the basis of such illegal “annexation”, said the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Sources: UNIAN

The USA and Russia “positively assessed” the G20 declaration, which did not condemn the war

At the end of the G20 Summit on September 9-10 in the Indian city of New Delhi, a joint declaration was adopted, where the war in Ukraine was mentioned, but the actions of the Russian Federation were not condemned.

The consensus was a surprise. In the weeks leading up to the summit, sharply disparate views on the war threatened to derail the meeting, as Western countries demanded that Moscow be condemned for the invasion and Russia was saying it would block any resolution that did not align with its position.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken supported the joint statement of the G20 leaders on the war in Ukraine. “All G20 countries in this statement defend the importance of territorial integrity and sovereignty – and this is clear. I was in the room when all the leaders were talking to President Biden, and it was very clear from everything they said that they not only want this war to end, but they want it to end on just and solid terms.” – as Politico quoted Blinken. At the same time, he stated that “it is very important that the G20 speak as a whole.”

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, head of the Russian delegation, said the summit was a success for India as well as for the Global South, the developing world. “The position of the Global South at the negotiations helped to “prevent the G20 agenda from being overshadowed by Ukraine,” he said at a press conference. “India has truly consolidated the G20 members from the Global South,” Lavrov said.

Germany and Great Britain also praised the resolution, but Ukraine said it had “nothing to be proud of.”

Sources: Radio Svoboda, Ukrainian Pravda, Informator

Will the grain issue become an obstacle for Ukraine on its path to the EU?

On September 15, 2023, the ban on the import of corn, wheat, rapeseed and sunflower seeds to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia expires.

On September 12, Poland announced that it is going to block the import of Ukrainian products even if the European Commission cancels this ban. The country advocated an indefinite ban on the import of Ukrainian grain and connected it to Ukraine’s accession to the EU. “Under the current conditions, Ukraine cannot join the European Union, as this will harm Polish agriculture… it is very important that the grain goes where it is needed and important for the food security of the countries that need this grain,” the Minister of Agriculture of Poland Robert Telus said.

On September 13, the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary Istvan Nagy announced that he has agreed with his Romanian, Bulgarian and Slovak colleagues that they will extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, if the European Commission does not do so. However, on September 14, it became known that Bulgaria lifted the ban on the import of grain from Ukraine after September 15.

Some experts predict that the European Commission will extend the ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine to five EU countries, though not until the end of the year. However, as it is emphasized, the last word belongs to the head Ursula von der Leyen, who allegedly promised Volodymyr Zelenskyi not to extend the ban.

In a few days, there is a meeting of the presidents of Poland and Ukraine planned in the United States to discuss misunderstandings regarding the export of Ukrainian food.

Sources: UNIAN, Ukrinform

Main image: By rajatonvimma /// VJ Group Random Doctors – https://www.flickr.com/photos/rajatonvimma/51905382081/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115634824