Key developments on Dec. 5: * Ukrainian forces regain control of Novyi Komar village in Donetsk Oblast * At least 6 Ukrainian mayors held captive by Russia, Zelensky says * Ukrainian forces to receive 30,000 DeepStrike drones in 2025 as part of Zelensky's resilience plan, minister says * 'There will be no Yalta-2
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Malta on Dec. 5, strongly opposed any agreements resembling past Yalta or Minsk deals that could legitimize Russian aggression.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is also visiting Malta to address the plenary session of the OSCE meeting. Ukraine's chief diplomat left the hall before the start of Lavrov's speech, calling him a "war criminal."
Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon reaffirmed her country’s strong support for Ukraine during the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Ukrinform reported on Dec. 4.
The document, signed by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, includes U.S. aid totaling up to $825 million.
The provision of HAWK, NASAMS, and IRIS-T batteries will help avert blackouts, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said as Ukraine braces for fresh attacks in the third winter of the full-scale war.
"We believe that the invitation should be extended at this stage," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a letter to his NATO counterparts.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with Poland on Nov. 26 that there were "no obstacles" for Poland to conduct exhumation work on the victims of the Volyn massacre of World War II, amid previous tension over the matter with Warsaw.
"This is war criminal Putin’s true response to all those who called and visited him recently. We need peace through strength, not appeasement," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Nov. 17.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Nov. 16 during an unannounced visit to the capital, marking his first trip to Ukraine since being appointed to the post in September.
Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit overnight on Nov. 16 in a show of Tokyo's support for the besieged country.
The topic of the discussions was not made public, but the officials meet as the U.S. administration pledges to ramp up support before President Joe Biden leaves the White House on Jan. 20, 2025.
Following the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of the Peace Formula in Montreal, over 45 countries signed a pledge on Oct. 31 in support of facilitating the return of all Ukrainian captives and deportees.
The visit to Johannesburg and Pretoria will conclude Andrii Sybiha's tour across the Middle East and the African continent as he seeks to strengthen ties and drum up support for Ukraine's peace formula.
"A Russian victory would consecrate the law of the strongest and precipitate the international order towards chaos," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in Kyiv on Oct. 19.
"We discussed Ukraine's priority defense needs, further military aid, invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, and our path to EU membership," Sybiha said. The meeting comes at a time of heightened tensions between Poland and Ukraine.
Ukraine will have the second-strongest military in NATO on the European continent once it joins the alliance, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said on Oct. 1.
Sybiha and Szijjarto held talks in a one-on-one format and discussed "in detail a wide bilateral and international agenda," according to the Ukrainian official.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto are expected to discuss the development of "good neighborly relations," the implementation of joint projects, including protection of the rights of national minorities, and Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO among other topics.
Sybiha will visit Bucharest to hold bilateral negotiations with his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu and other high-ranking officials.
"We have to tell the truth, talk about the Volyn tragedy, about other mutual acts," Sikorski said, adding that Ukraine and Poland must choose a "common and secure future."
Ukraine's new Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on Sept. 8 that he had recalled the Ukrainian charge d'affaires from Georgia, saying that "ambassadors of a country at war cannot be detached from the war's realities."
In a major government reshuffle, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was replaced on Sept. 5 by his deputy, Andrii Sybiha. Sybiha's candidacy was backed by 258 members of the Ukrainian parliament. Although reports of a possible government reshuffle emerged several months ago, for many Ukrainian and international observers, the news of
Andrii Sybiha is a career diplomat who served as Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey in 2016-2019.
On June 5, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Sun Weidong for political consultations, as reported by Ukraine's press service of the Foreign Ministry.
Andrii Sybiha, a deputy head of the Presidential Office, has been named the first deputy foreign minister, replacing Mykola Tochytskyi, said Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in the parliament, on April 12.
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