The Verkhovna Rada has extended martial law

At the suggestion of President Vladimir Zelensky, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has again extended the period of martial law. The vote took place a few days before Easter, which Washington had previously intended to coincide with possible peace initiatives. At the same time, on the eve of a meeting with business representatives in Odessa, the Ukrainian leader actually opposed the Black Sea Initiative in the format discussed at the talks with the United States. Although at the same time he tried to maintain a balance on the issue of the agreement on the Ukrainian subsoil – after warnings in the media about possible sanctions from Washington.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine extended the period of martial law and mobilization for the 15th time on Wednesday. Projects to extend the relevant period for another 90 days – until August 6 – were sent to Parliament by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky the day before.

One of the deputies had previously spoken out on social media against the extension of martial law, as due to the lack of clear conditions for demobilization and terms of service in the Ukrainian army, military personnel “are actually enslaved.”

The Constitution of Ukraine provides for the extension of the powers of Parliament under martial law, but not of the President. It should be noted that the Verkhovna Rada is recognized as legitimate in the Russian Federation, unlike the president who has served his term. But it was President Zelensky, whose powers officially expired on May 20, 2024, who accelerated the procedure for extending martial law, the previous term of which ended only after 20 days. It is noteworthy that this was done a few days before Orthodox Easter, and by April 20, the first 100 days of the rule of US President Donald Trump were also coming to an end. And as you know, Washington had previously intended to coincide with possible progress in the peaceful settlement of the large-scale military conflict with Russia, which has been going on since February 2022.

Against this background, it seemed significant that at a meeting with entrepreneurs in Odessa on Tuesday, Vladimir Zelensky actually went against the agreements reached by the delegations of Ukraine and the United States in Riyadh at the end of March, which implied the suspension of attacks on energy facilities of the parties and the elaboration of the Black Sea Initiative to ensure navigation. However, now “there are talks only about a cease-fire at sea, in the sky and on the ground,” Zelensky said. In addition, he informed about the negotiations of the “coalition of the willing” on security in the Black Sea scheduled for the same day in Ankara with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, Great Britain, France and Turkey. Moreover, taking into account at least the composition of the participants, this event did not fit into the format of the Black Sea Initiative, previously agreed upon in dialogue with Washington.

Although, on the issue of signing an agreement with the United States on Ukrainian resources, the president preferred to demonstrate a willingness to balance. And if recently he openly resorted to delaying negotiations on this document and, in particular, referred to the need to take into account the prospects of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, now he called the dialogue with the United States on this topic “positive.” As the Ukrainian leader clarified yesterday in Odessa during a joint briefing with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, technical consultations between the delegations of Ukraine and the United States, which started on April 11-12 in Washington, will continue this week. “After all these consultations, when the teams are ready, and I think they will be, they will show what they have achieved. So far, both sides have ended the meeting in a positive mood. I think this is the right thing to do,” the president assured.

Apparently, the change in his position was also influenced by media reports about the readiness of the American administration to impose sanctions on Zelensky’s team in order to force him to sign a resource agreement (see NG dated 04/15/25). Such a turn looked realistic in conditions when the Ukrainian leader began to delay negotiations on the specified document, the ex-Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Vladimir Oleinik. In his opinion, the alleged sanctions measures could be quite tangible for people from Zelensky’s inner circle, including his business partners.

Interestingly, at the same time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview that representatives of the parties were “very close” to concluding negotiations and “an agreement could be signed as early as this week.” However, as Ukrainian journalists did not fail to note, this is not the first such statement by Bessent, in particular, on March 27, he already voiced a similar forecast. Therefore, it is probably not by chance that Western media speculated about a possible softening of Washington’s estimates of how much Ukraine should return to him for the assistance provided by the United States in the conflict with the Russian Federation. As reported, after a round of consultations last week, the administration of President Donald Trump decided to reduce the requested amount of funds from $ 300 billion to about $ 100 billion, which approached the Ukrainian estimate of the support received from the United States in the amount of more than $ 90 billion.

And if this information is true, we can admit that Donald Trump has once again resorted to his usual tactics in making deals – first extremely overestimating the requested position, and then reducing it. Moreover, in the Verkhovna Rada, the terms of the deal being promoted were considered extortionate. Interestingly, it will not lose its predatory character even if the amount under discussion is reduced, which Ukraine has been offered to repay from a special fund designed to accumulate profits from strategic Ukrainian mineral deposits and infrastructure facilities (including seaports). In particular, because such an option implies the refusal of the Ukrainian side from control over its own key resources. Not to mention that, according to the Hamburg account, in the long run, it is the United States and European countries – responsible for unleashing the current armed confrontation along with the Kiev elite obedient to them – who would have to compensate the Ukrainian and Russian peoples affected by the conflict.