РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Oleksiy Danilov: Address of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Parliament is a clear action plan for the authorities in domestic and foreign policy

This year’s Address of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Parliament is a clear action plan for the authorities in domestic and foreign policy. This was emphasized by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov.

According to Mr. Danilov, for the Head of State, “achieving peace remains the key priority, and 86 days of silence at the frontline has clearly demonstrated this”.

To the NSDC Secretary’s mind, the President's initiative to establish the “Crimean Platform” format aimed at coordinating international efforts to protect the rights of the Crimean people and de-occupation of the peninsula is extremely important. “The issue of the Crimea is also key for us, and we have never removed it from the agenda, - he said. - Intensifying the negotiation process, attracting new participants to it will bring us closer to restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders”.

Mr. Danilov stressed that the increased expenditures on financing the security and defense sector are Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s principled stance in matters of national security. The amount of funding for the security and defense sector of Ukraine planned in the draft budget for 2021 amounts to 5,93% of GDP, he reminded.

According to the NSDC Secretary, the Strategy for the economic development of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be an important tool for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories.

“On December 5, 2019, five scenarios of developments in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were considered at the NSDC meeting. We are currently working on the first approved scenario - the liberation of the temporarily occupied territories through political and diplomatic means”, - he reminded noticing that the implementation of new initiatives of the Head of State will accelerate the return of the Crimea and certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Ukraine on Ukrainian terms. “This is a fairly realistic goal”, - Mr. Danilov said.