G-7 united against Russia’s ‘malign’ acts
A senior U.S. official has told reporters that foreign affairs ministers from the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations remain determined to oppose Russia’s efforts to “destabilize” nations around the world. “There was a G-7 unity on opposing Russia’s malign behavior,” said the State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on April 22, the first day of the G-7 foreign ministers’ two-day meeting in Toronto. Nevertheless, the official said there remains an openness to talk to Russia over various important issues while still holding Moscow accountable for its destabilizing efforts around the globe. Reuters earlier quoted sources as saying the meeting’s final statement would maintain an uncompromising line with Moscow, which the G-7 has condemned for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and for its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. “The language will be tough because of what the Russians have done until now,” one source said. “But it can also be interpreted as leaving the door open.” The source added, “We are saying to them, ‘If you want to be treated as a great power, then work with us.’ ” Reuters quoted a senior official from one G-7 nation as saying the foreign ministers were concerned about what they viewed as a pattern of Russian misbehavior over the past several years. The G-7 has also blamed Russia for a nerve-agent attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter last month in Britain. Russia has denied involvement. Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin told his G-7 counterparts that Russia was using his country as a test ground for its information war against Western democracy. “Fundamentally, Ukraine is perceived by many, and also by Russia, as a sort of test range for testing Russian nonconventional warfare – hybrid war,” Mr. Klimkin said while urging the West to take a stronger stand in resisting Kremlin efforts. Canada’s top diplomat, Chrystia Freeland, had invited the representative from Ukraine – which is not a G-7 member – to speak with the group’s ministers. Foreign Affairs Minister Freeland had pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin as playing a major role in disrupting global affairs. She said G-7 members had “reaffirmed our unity in support of Ukraine and a rules-based international order where state sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by all.” The G-7 consists of the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. (RFE/RL, with reporting by The Toronto Star, Reuters, AFP and AP)
Bolton tells Russia conditions for better ties
The new U.S. national security adviser has told Russia’s U.S. ambassador that Moscow must address U.S. concerns on election meddling, the “reckless” nerve-agent attack in Britain, and the situations in Ukraine and Syria before relations can substantially improve. A White House statement on April 19 said John Bolton, who took over from H.R. McMaster on April 9, made the remarks in a meeting with Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov. “At the first meeting between the two in their current roles, they discussed the state of the relationships between the United States and Russia,” the statement said. “Ambassador Bolton reiterated that it is in the interest of both the United States and Russia to have better relations, but that this will require addressing our concerns regarding Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the reckless use of chemical weapons in the United Kingdom, and the situations in Ukraine and Syria,” it added. Several global issues have raised tensions between Washington and Moscow despite President Donald Trump’s stated goal of improving relations between the two countries. The U.S. intelligence community has accused Russia of a widespread cyberhacking-and-propaganda campaign aimed at influencing the 2016 presidential election vote. The United States and Europe have slapped sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. military has assailed Russia for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and says it holds Moscow responsible for an alleged chemical weapons attack. Meanwhile, the United States has said it supports Britain in a dispute with Russia over the March 4 poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury. Britain has blamed Russia for the attack. Moscow has denied it interfered in the U.S. election, said it had nothing to do with the Skripal poisonings, and claimed the allegations of a chemical attack in Syria are false. The 69-year-old Mr. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador, has served as a hawkish voice in Republican foreign-policy circles for decades. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters, Politico, and TASS)
Acting secretary of state and Klimkin meet
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on April 21 gave a readout of the April 21 meeting between U.S. Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan and Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin, on the margins of the G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Toronto. She noted: “The acting secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. He urged Ukraine to redouble reform efforts and adhere to IMF [International Monetary Fund] programs by adopting legislation to establish a truly independent anti-corruption court and raising gas tariffs to import parity levels. Acting Secretary Sullivan and Foreign Minister Klimkin called on Russia to finally fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreements and end its occupation of Crimea.” (U.S. Department of State)
U.S. raises case of Volodymyr Balukh
The U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) stated on April 19: “Russia’s oppression of those opposing its occupation of Crimea continues unabated. We call on the Russian Federation to permit Ukrainian doctors to visit Volodymyr Balukh who has been on a hunger strike since March 19 while incarcerated in Symferopol on fabricated charges. Mr. Balukh should be released immediately.” The U.S. Mission went on to note: “The United States is also following the trial, which began this week, of Ukrainian Yevhen Panov. Human rights organizations have called the case politically motivated and expressed concern about the apparent use of torture against him in order to coerce a confession. Panov was targeted for founding an organization to support Ukrainian war veterans, including those, like himself, who fought against Russian aggression in the Donbas.” In addition, the U.S. Mission to the OSCE reiterated: “The United States fully supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. We do not, nor will we ever, recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea. Crimea-related sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Russia returns full control of the peninsula to Ukraine. And we join our European and other partners in restating that our sanctions against Russia for its aggression in eastern Ukraine will remain until Russia fully implements its commitments under the Minsk agreements.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Ukraine appeals to maritime authority
Ukraine has appealed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to not recognize Russian actions in Black Sea areas near Russia-annexed Crimea as legal, Ukraine’s Embassy to the United Kingdom has said. “Ukraine has called on the IMO not to recognize unilateral actions of Russia in Black Sea areas near Crimea and Sevastopol… Russia continues to violate international law and disregard authorities on issues of international maritime traffic in the region. Crimea is a part of Ukraine,” the Embassy said following the 105th session of the IMO’s legal committee. Diplomats said Ukraine’s representative at the meeting called on IMO members not to recognize Russia’s attempt to implement IMO conventions on temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. In its June 2017 statement at the committee’s session, the representative of Ukraine called on the Russian Federation to take all measures to prevent internationally wrongful acts in Ukraine’s search and rescue region, as well as to provide appropriate assurances and guarantees that they will not repeat it in the future. The delegation of Ukraine then also drew attention of IMO member states to the fact that at the previous session of the Maritime Safety Committee it was decided to begin monitoring of the situation with the security and safety of navigation in the northern part of the Black Sea. (Interfax-Ukraine)
Ukraine, EU agree on energy fund
The European Union’s delegation to Ukraine reported on April 18: “Today Vice Prime Minister Hennadii Zubko and the head of the Support Group for Ukraine Peter M. Wagner, in the presence of Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman, have signed a Financing Agreement of 50 million euros to support the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund. The agreement will contribute to energy savings and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Ukraine. The EU, together with Germany, will also support the activities of the Energy Efficiency Fund in providing grants to the energy efficient renovations of multi-apartment houses across Ukraine.” The Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund was set up by the Ukrainian government earlier this year in close cooperation with the European Union and Germany. The 50 million euro Energy Efficiency support program is part of that effort. The EU reported that Germany will contribute an additional 15 million euros to the program, while the Ukrainian government has also committed close to 50 million euros to the Ukrainian Energy Efficiency Fund in 2018. Since 2014, the EU has pledged 965 million euros in the European Neighborhood Instrument grants to support Ukrainian reforms.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Anniversary of OSCE paramedic’s death
“One year ago, Joseph Stone, a U.S. citizen serving as a paramedic with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (SMM), was killed when his vehicle struck a mine in eastern Ukraine, in territory controlled by Russia-led forces,” noted the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Heather Nauert on April 23. “Two of Mr. Stone’s colleagues were seriously injured in the same blast. The United States again offers its heartfelt condolences to Joseph Stone’s family, friends and loved ones, and we commend the SMM for its commitment to bringing peace to Ukraine under difficult and dangerous conditions.” Ms. Nauert also stated: “Joseph Stone’s death underscores the reality in which the SMM operates, including almost daily access restrictions, threats and harassment from Russia-led forces. The United States calls on Russia to initiate a real and durable ceasefire, to withdraw its heavy weapons, and to remove its forces from Ukraine, in keeping with its commitments under the Minsk agreements. We further underscore our unwavering support for the SMM and call for monitors’ safe, full, and unfettered access throughout the conflict zone.” (U.S. Department of State)
Kazakh faces trial for joining separatists
The trial of a Kazakh citizen who fought alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has started in Kazakhstan’s central city of Qaraghandy. The 31-year-old defendant, whose identity the court ordered not to be released by media, pleaded guilty to “participation in an armed conflict in the foreign country” in 2015 and 2016 as the trial started on April 24. He pleaded not guilty to separate murder charges in the deaths of two Qaraghandy residents in 2016. A co-defendant pleaded guilty to failing to report a crime. Several Kazakh citizens have been tried and convicted on charges related to the war in eastern Ukraine, including joining the Russia-backed separatists and inciting ethnic hatred by discussing the conflict on the Internet. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, after deploying troops and engineering the takeover of the regional legislature, in a move denounced by Kyiv, the West and 100 countries in the U.N. General Assembly. Russia has also supported separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have been killed since April 2014. Russia’s interference in Ukraine has raised concerns among its neighbors that it may have designs on parts of their territory – particularly those which, like Qaraghandy and parts of northern Kazakhstan, are home to many ethnic Russians. (RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service)
Azerbaijani journalist leaves Ukraine
An Azerbaijani journalist and rights defender who has been pursued by Baku since he fled his homeland under pressure a decade ago has left Ukraine for the Netherlands, where he has citizenship, colleagues say. Fikrat Huseynli traveled out of Ukraine on April 17, Qanimat Zahid – chief of KanalTuran TV, which is run by Azerbaijan’s opposition Popular Front Party – told RFE/RL. Mr. Huseynli fled to the Netherlands in 2008 after he was stabbed, beaten and left for dead by unknown assailants in Baku in 2006. He was later granted political asylum and became a Dutch citizen. His return to the Netherlands from Ukraine followed an ordeal that raised concerns among activists that he could be deported to Azerbaijan, where he is wanted on what government critics say are politically motivated fraud and illegal border-crossing charges. Ukrainian authorities stopped Mr. Huseynli from boarding a flight to Germany at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv in October 2017, seizing his documents under an Interpol red notice requested by the Azerbaijani government. He was arrested, then released several days later but ordered not to leave Ukraine before a final decision on his possible extradition to Azerbaijan was made. Ukrainian prosecutors in Kyiv requested that he be arrested again, but on April 2 a Kyiv district court judge ruled that he should not be extradited to Azerbaijan or have his travel restricted. However, prosecutors kept Mr. Huseynli’s Dutch passport to prevent his return to the Netherlands. On April 4, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Ukrainian authorities to “immediately” return Mr. Huseynli’s Dutch passport. “Ukraine must not succumb to the demands of Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime, which is notorious for persecuting critics both at home and abroad,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator Nina Ognianova said. A lawyer for Mr. Huseynli, Dmytro Mazurok, told RFE/RL that he had obtained his client’s passport from Kyiv’s Pechersk district court on April 16. A court hearing had been scheduled on April 19 to hear a request lodged by his lawyer for the travel ban to be lifted. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service)