Explaining complex things in simple words: Situation with voting in US Congress, Ukraine's economic relations with Poland, situation in Transnistria

THE SITUATION WITH VOTING IN THE U.S. CONGRESS

The heads of 23 parliaments of the world and the speaker of the European Parliament called on Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress, to submit a bill on USD 60 billion assistance for Ukraine.

• After a positive vote in the Senate on February 13, the House of Representatives of the Congress remains the last authority for approving assistance to Ukraine.
• U.S. assistance is critical, and Ukraine needs a decision within a month.
• Not only Ukraine but also more than two dozen countries rely their hopes on the rationality and effectiveness of the U.S. Congress.
• American assistance to Ukraine is an investment in international security that can prevent the crisis from expanding to global proportions.
• The lack of ammunition is already having an extremely negative impact on the situation at the front. Further delays will have too high a price for Ukraine and the world.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF UKRAINE WITH POLAND

On February 28, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Kyiv and Warsaw were discussing the temporary closure of the border and the cessation of trade.

• Currently, there are no negotiations on the closure of the border (said Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine).
• For Ukraine, the stability of checkpoints on the borders with its neighbours is a matter of survival in the war with the Russian aggressor.
• The blocking of checkpoints by Polish agrarians should stop because solving the problems of Polish farmers is a matter of the competence of the Polish government, so the discussion should not take place on the border with Ukraine.
• Despite the unhealthy situation at the border, Ukraine does not lose hope of finding a constructive solution to the problem.
• The escalation of the situation will also cause damage to Poland, and not only to Ukraine. Ukraine imports Polish goods worth UAH 1.7 billion annually. The current situation clearly does not contribute to the positive dynamics of our bilateral trade.

THE SITUATION IN TRANSNISTRIA

On February 28, the so-called “congress of members of councils of all levels in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic” called on Russia to help and protect it “from pressure from Moldova.”

• The situation in Transnistria directly concerns the security interests of Ukraine, so political activity in this region is in the focus of our attention.
• Ukraine supports the peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict in compliance with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.
• Kyiv is in close contact with Chișinău. Recently, Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Maia Sandu have discussed the situation in Transnistria.
• The negotiation format in Transnistria with the participation of Russia is non-functional. The aggressor state cannot act as a peacekeeper in any peace settlement.
• The appeal to Russia by the representatives of Transnistria is another provocation carried out by those who have already become an instrument of Moscow's geopolitical moves.

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security