Ukraine

Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland), who has been nominated to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission for the 21 July early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, today expressed regret that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will no longer be able to observe these elections following recent developments.

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's order to dissolve parliament and call early elections is legal. … Zelenskiy issued a decree on May 21 -- a day after his inauguration -- to dissolve parliament and declared that a new chamber will be elected on July 21.

[…] Russia sanctions are unanimously extended for another six months because of a lack of Minsk Agreements implementation," an EU spokesman said Thursday.

Ukraine's president said he is ready to negotiate with Russia to end the war in eastern Ukraine, but he also reaffirmed his country’s course toward NATO membership -- a move strongly opposed by Moscow. Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the comments on June 4 during a visit to Brussels, where he met with top European Union and NATO officials as part of his first foreign trip as president.

On 4 June 2019, Antti Hartikainen was appointed as new head of mission for the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine). … He was previously Head of the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya, Deputy Head of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine, and Team Leader for the EU Advisory Group to Armenia.

Ukraine’s new president on Tuesday formally ordered Ukraine’s parliament to dissolve and called an early election for July, hoping to ride the wave of his electoral success to get his supporters into parliament.

Today, the Council extended the mandate of the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) in Ukraine until 31 May 2021. It also approved a budget of € 54 million for the next two years, an increase of more than 25%, which reflects the intensification of the mission's activities, including through the establishment of a second mobile unit, which will be deployed in the east and south-east of Ukraine.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission has formally declared Volodymyr Zelenskiy the winner of the country's presidential election, releasing final results from the April 21 runoff vote.

The UN’s political affairs chief has urged all parties to the peace plan protocol for eastern Ukraine known as the Minsk Agreements, to avoid “any unilateral steps” that could undermine efforts to demilitarize the eastern conflict zone. Rosemary DiCarlo was addressing the Security Council on Thursday in a meeting requested by Ukraine, and in the wake of Ukrainian presidential elections and the signing of a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier, that reportedly aims to allow citizens in parts of eastern Ukraine, to apply for Russian passports, under a simplified procedure.

The new decree makes it easier for people living in separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship. Ukraine's president-elect has called for more international sanctions over the move.