“Latvia’s Presidency in the Council of Europe: Priorities and Expectations for Support for Ukraine”

Latvia expects that the members of the Council of Europe (EP) will show unwavering support for Ukraine at the summit, emphasized Jānis Zlamets, head of the Directorate of Security Policy and International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MA).

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As LETA agency was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zlamets informed the diplomats of foreign embassies in Riga today about the upcoming presidency of Latvia in the Committee of Ministers of the EP, which will start on May 17 and last until November 15. Latvia will take over the presidency from Iceland.

The agenda of the Latvian presidency will consist of three basic elements: the implementation of the decisions of the upcoming EP summit, the current strategic priorities and agenda issues of the EP, as well as the implementation of the thematic priorities put forward by Latvia.

Zlamets introduced foreign embassies to the thematic priorities of Latvia’s presidency – to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Europe, especially by promoting the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, to promote freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and the EP’s digital agenda and the progress of EP reforms, including the implementation of the decisions of the upcoming EP summit in May this year .

Several Latvian institutions will be involved in the implementation of the presidency, which, according to their competence, are involved in the daily work of the EP. 17 thematic events are planned in both Riga and Strasbourg, including the informal conference of ministers of justice and the conference of ministers of education, as well as a conference on freedom of expression and safety of journalists organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Office of the Ombudsman and the EP.

The EP, founded in 1949, is the oldest political organization in Europe, which unites 46 European countries. The aim of the EP is to create a common democratic and legal space, ensuring the respect and protection of its basic values ​​- human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Latvia became a member state of the EP in 1995.

This will be Latvia’s second presidency since joining this organization. During the six-month presidency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia will lead the work of the EP Committee of Ministers and represent it at the most important EP events and EP Parliamentary Assembly sessions.

A Russian missile hit the museum in Kupyansk; two people killed

War in Ukraine in the Donetsk region.

On Tuesday, a missile fired by Russia hit the museum building in Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, killing two people, Oleh Sinehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region administration, said.

Initially, it was reported that one person – a museum employee – was killed in the Russian missile strike, however, as the rescuers continued to remove the ruins, the body of another woman was found.

Rescuers found the body of the second woman in the ruins of the Kupyansk museum destroyed by the Russian S-300 missile. From the bottom of my heart, I express my condolences to the relatives of the victims of this Russian terrorist attack”, the head of the district assured on the Telegram platform.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, announced that the search has been completed.

The destruction of the museum by Russian missiles is another proof that Russia wants to destroy the culture and people of Ukraine, while the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told “Telegram”.

“Kupjanska, city center, local history museum. “The state terrorist is doing everything to destroy us completely – our history, our culture, our people, killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods,” said Zelenskiy. “We have no right to forget about it for a second. We have to respond and we will respond.”

As Sinehubov warned, there is a relatively high probability that new rocket strikes will be carried out against the city of Kharkiv and the settlements of the region. He calls not to ignore the alarm signals and to stay in shelters.

There are no military facilities near the museum building where the Russian S-300 missile hit, the head of the district said.

Newspaper: Ukraine has postponed strikes on Moscow at the request of the USA

War in Ukraine.

The armed forces of Ukraine planned to strike Moscow on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war, but at the request of Washington, they abandoned the plan, referring to the leaked Pentagon documents and their own sources, the “Washington Post” newspaper reports.

Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, denied that Kyiv had such an intention soon after the publication appeared.

According to one of the reports cited by the “Washington Post”, the head of the Main Intelligence Department (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, instructed one of his subordinates to “prepare massive strikes on February 24 with everything HUR has at its disposal.”

Two days before the anniversary of the start of the war on February 22, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released another secret document, which said that the HUR “agreed to postpone strikes” on Moscow at the request of Washington.

The documents do not say who exactly opposed the strikes or why Ukrainian officials agreed to abandon the original decision.

However, as the “Washington Post” points out, this case is a concrete example of the tension between Kyiv and Washington. Ukraine, trying to transfer hostilities to Russian territory, sometimes faces restrictions imposed by the United States.

Podoliak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, commenting on the appearance of the Washington Post publication on Twitter, rejected the version presented there.

“Why would we do such a thing? To achieve what? What task would such a one-time action solve? Change the course of the war? Force the Russians to flee? The need for weapons would be eliminated,” Podolyak asked on Twitter.

“Such publications, necessarily with reference to “anonymous sources”, fulfill only one catastrophic function – to shape public opinion in Western capitals, as if Ukraine is an unreasonable, infantile and impulsive country, to which it is dangerous to entrust serious weapons to adults. Consciously or unknowingly, it is done – that is another question,” said the adviser.

Podoliak added that Ukraine really needs long-range missiles and aviation, however, for attacks on Russian logistics and fortifications in the occupied territories.

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