Zelenskyy approves National Security Council decision on impossibility of negotiations with Putin

OLENA ROSHCHINA — TUESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2022, 11:49

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defence Council, which states the impossibility of negotiating with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, as well as the need to strengthen Ukraine’s defence capability.

Source: Presidential decree No. 679/2022 and the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine on 30 September

Details: Zelenskyy enacted the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (dating back to 30 September 2022) “On Ukraine’s actions in response to the Russian Federation’s attempt to annex the territories of our state, to guarantee the security of the Euro-Atlantic space and Ukraine, and to restore its territorial integrity.”

On Friday, 30 September, taking into account the results of the meeting of the Staff of Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the NSDC decided to:

State the impossibility of holding negotiations with the president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Approve the text of the joint appeal by the president, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and the prime minister of Ukraine to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO – ed.).
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is to prepare proposals for a multi-level security guarantee system based on Ukraine’s multilateral and bilateral agreements, which aim to bring the defence potential of Ukraine to a level that will ensure a guaranteed response to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, strengthening military support for Ukraine to build up its defence capabilities, promoting the development of the military industry and significantly increasing the scale and volume of individual and collective training of Ukrainian servicemen.
In the context of escalation by the Russian Federation, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should ensure that Ukraine’s defence capability is strengthened by increasing the supply of military and technical assistance to Ukraine.
A recommendation has been made to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that it expedite the adoption of relevant draft laws on appropriate sanctions and other responses to escalation by the Russian Federation in order to increase state resilience.

Previously: On 30 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine was ready to negotiate with Russia – not with Vladimir Putin, but with a different president. Prior to that, the Ukrainian leader repeatedly warned the Kremlin that further negotiations would become impossible if Russia annexed new territories of Ukraine.

On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Verkhovna Rada head Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine’s application for fast-track membership of NATO.

Background:

On 21 September, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly supported sham referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine and announced partial mobilisation in Russia.
On 27 September, Russian proxies in the occupied Ukrainian territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts) reported that the “referendums” were complete. Their outcomes were known in advance.
On 30 September, Putin signed the agreements that provided for admission of the annexed territories to Russia, and claimed that from now on, people in these territories would be considered Russian citizens. Russia’s Constitutional Court approved this package of documents, and the State Duma (Russian Parliament) ratified them.
The Russian government said that the transition period for the newly annexed territories would last until 2026.
The occupiers already plan parliamentary elections in the newly annexed territories in 2023.
Neither Ukraine nor the world’s democratic community recognise the results of sham referendums or “admission” of the above-mentioned oblasts to Russia, as was the case with Crimea in 2014.