Oleksiy Arestovich announced the production of Turkish-Ukrainian heavy drones of the Anka type in the Kiev Oblast, Ukraine
13 December. Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to the head of the President’s Office and press secretary of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) claimed that Turkish-Ukrainian heavy drones of the Anka type would be produced in the Kyiv Oblast. Anka drones were developed by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). These drones can neutralize air defence. Their standard equipment includes 8 anti-tank missiles “Roketsan Cirit” or four MAM-L laser guided bombs.
The construction of a plant for Anka Unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAVs) production in Ukraine has already begun in a town Vasylkiv. According to Mr. Arestovich, Anka is the next generation of Bayraktar UAVs which surpasses Bayraktar in all characteristics. The release of the first batch of drones is expected at the end of 2022.
Source: https://hvylya.net/news/243371-ukraina-i-turciya-zapustyat-proizvodstvo-bespilotnikov-pod-kievom
The spokesperson of the Polish Minister-Special Services Coordinator claimed that the Belarusian general had coordinated the migrants’ attack on the Polish border
14 December. Stanisław Żaryn, the spokesperson of the Polish Minister-Special Services Coordinator, stated that the Belarusian Major General Roman Podliniew, deputy chief of the Belarusian border guards, supervised the attack on the Polish border, which had taken place on November 16, 2021 in Bruzgi, Belarus. At that time, hundreds of migrants tried to break into Poland by force, using stones, sticks, noise grenades, etc. Tear gas and water cannons had to be used against migrants. According to Mr. Żaryn, the fact that Mr. Podliniew supervised and monitored the entire operation, that involved the use of migrants against Poland, is another proof of the Belarusian services involvement in the hybrid operations against the European Union.
Sources: https://twitter.com/StZaryn/status/1470727027175174147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1470727027175174147%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurointegration.com.ua%2Fnews%2F2021%2F12%2F14%2F7131555%2F; https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2021/12/14/7131555/
Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz in Brussels
15 December. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brussels to discuss the settlement of the armed conflict in Donbas region. The talks took place during Eastern Partnership summit 2021. Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Macron and Mr. Scholz agreed to continue cooperation within the Normandy Format (meetings in quadripartite format: Ukraine-Germany-France-the Russian Federation). The President of Ukraine thanked Germany and France for supporting Ukraine. Mr. Macron and Mr. Scholz agreed on the need to enforce the decisions made by the four sides (along with Russian President Vladimir Putin) at the 2019 Normandy Four summit in Paris.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba stated on his Twitter: “This meeting is an important political signal. [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] has clearly proved our position and stressed: Ukraine will fight for its interests under any circumstances”.
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/news-59673363?xtor=AL-73-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bukr%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bukrainian%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D; https://tsn.ua/video/video-novini/samit-v-bryusseli-berlin-parizh-ta-kiyiv-domovilis-prodovzhiti-robotu-v-normandskomu-formati.html; https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1471169282574888960?t=tdkTKLMwrZy7vaIlNp_weg&s=19
Experts of the Crimea Platform presented an action plan for 2022
16 December. The expert network of the Crimea Platform (diplomatic initiative of Ukraine which aims at making the international response to the Crimean occupation more effective) presented an action plan for 2022 as well as priority areas of analytical research and international advocacy activities. The event was attended by representatives of foreign diplomatic missions of countries and organizations participating in the “Crimean Platform”, international charitable foundations and donor assistance programs.
President of East Europe Foundation Victor Lyakh called on international partners to join the financial and institutional support of analytical research and activities of the Expert Network. Petro Beshta, Director General of the Political Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, expressed hope that such meetings with the international donor community would become regular and transform into a permanent platform for presenting plans, implemented projects and achievements of the Crimea Platform Expert Network.
Source: https://mfa.gov.ua/news/ekspertna-merezha-krimskoyi-platformi-predstavila-diplomatichnomu-korpusu-ta-mizhnarodnim-donoram-plan-zahodiv-na-2022-rik; https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-crimea/3370610-eksperti-krimskoi-platformi-predstavili-plan-zahodiv-na-2022-rik.html
Dmytro Kuleba named the main achievements of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine in 2021
17 December. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, called creation of foreign policy strategy one the main achievements of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine in 2021. This strategy was created on behalf of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and became the first strategy of foreign policy since the Ukrainian independence. According to Mr. Kuleba, for the first time, Ukrainian foreign policy became structured. The strategy allowed to “balance Ukrainian interests and opportunities” and “made Ukrainian policy more proactive”.
The second important achievement was the establishment of the Crimea Platform – diplomatic initiative of Ukraine which aims at making the international response to the Crimean occupation more effective. As Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, – “we have brought the policy of de-occupation to a completely new level, both within Ukraine and in the international arena”. Mr. Kuleba claimed that Ukraine meets 2022 with the strongest international positions in 30 years of independence.
