Bolton to Russia: Get out of Ukraine
U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton has told Russia that it should “get out” of Crimea and eastern Ukraine and “stop interfering” in U.S. elections, warning that Washington could impose further sanctions on Moscow. “It will be helpful if they stop interfering in our election… get out of Crimea and the Donbas in Ukraine,” Mr. Bolton told Reuters during a stop in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on October 26. He also urged Moscow to “stop using illegal chemical weapons to conduct assassination attempts against Russian exiles in the West and… be less intrusive in the Middle East.” Such actions had prompted Washington to impose sanctions on Moscow in the past, Mr. Bolton said, and he refused to rule out additional penalties in the future. Mr. Bolton, who held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this week, has said Washington is in the process of deciding whether it will impose additional sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain. The United States and European Union also have sanctions in place to punish Moscow for its seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and for its support of separatists fighting the Kyiv government in eastern Ukraine. Talk has surfaced among some U.S. Republican lawmakers and in some European capitals about a possible easing of sanctions pressure against Russia, suggestions that Mr. Bolton played down. “It would certainly be inaccurate to say we are not going to impose any more sanctions on Russia,” he told Reuters. “We are going to do what we are required to do and what we think is necessary.” Moscow has repeatedly denied it interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election or that it had anything to do with the chemical attacks on the Skripals. Mr. Bolton’s comments came during a trip to Russia and three South Caucasus countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Mr. Bolton also told RFE/RL on October 25 that the United States had invited Mr. Putin to Washington “after the first of the year,” although no date has been set. He also said Mr. Trump will briefly talk to the Russian leader on the sidelines of events in Paris on November 11 to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL’s Georgian Service)
Sentsov makes his will public
Imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who ended his nearly five-month hunger strike in a Russian prison last month, has made his will public. Hromadske TV channel in Ukraine published Mr. Sentsov’s will on its website on October 26. In his will written on September 7 when he was still on a hunger strike, Mr. Sentsov, imprisoned in Russia after opposing Moscow’s takeover of his native Crimea, asks his associate, film director Yevhenia Vradiy to make movies based on his five scripts – “Rhinoceros,” “Kai”, “Brilliant World”, “Crows” and “Kristi” – if he dies. Mr. Sentsov wrote the last three scripts while in Russian custody. According to his will, Mr. Sentsov wants his daughter and son to be the beneficiaries of the profits gained from the films. Hromadske received Mr. Sentsov’s will from his cousin Natalya Kaplan. Mr. Sentsov’s lawyer, Dmitry Dinze, confirmed to RFE/RL that the will is original. Mr. Sentsov’s will was published a day after the European Parliament awarded him with its prestigious 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Mr. Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia’s 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of terrorism in a trial that he, human rights groups, and Western governments contend was politically motivated. He is currently imprisoned in the far northern Yamalo-Nenets region of Russia. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Hromadske TV)
Volker: no progress until elections
The U.S. special envoy for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, says he does not expect progress anytime soon toward ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine because Russia appears to be waiting for possible changes coming out of the Ukrainian elections. “I think that Russia has essentially decided to wait out the Ukrainian election, see what happens. Maybe it will be a new opportunity that arises to get a more favorable position for Russia. So I think they intend to play it out,” Ambassador Volker told the Atlantic Council in Washington on October 18. His remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Valdai Club in Sochi that he hoped a government more friendly to Russia emerges from the Ukrainian presidential election, which is due to take place on March 31. “We need to wait until the internal political cycles are finished, and I really expect that we will be able to build at least some kind of relations and reach some kind of agreement with a new leadership of the country. We’re ready for that, we want that,” Mr. Putin told the gathering of Russian and Western foreign policy experts. Mr. Putin claimed that the current leadership in Kyiv is also waiting for the elections before making any further progress in peace talks aimed at carrying out a road map for peace agreed to in the Belarusian capital in 2015. “It’s obvious to everyone that not only are the incumbent Ukrainian authorities failing to implement the Minsk agreements, but they are also not going to do that today, including because of domestic policy considerations – I mean the upcoming presidential and then parliamentary elections,” he said. Mr. Putin charged that the current government in Kyiv led by President Petro Poroshenko has made its mark by “selling Russophobia and anti-Russian sentiments” to the West. Mr. Volker said Russia appeared more determined than ever to continue backing separatists fighting the government in eastern Ukraine despite extensive efforts by the United States and Western Europe to pressure Russia over its aggression in Ukraine. “We did not impact the decision-making from President Putin and others in Russia about whether to continue the war. They are determined to continue to do so. And my estimation is that the chances of their changing position now are lower then they were even a year ago,” he said. The best strategy for the West, Mr. Volker said, is to maintain pressure on Moscow through the economic sanctions, which were first imposed on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. “I think we need to keep on track. I believe that sanctions do have an impact and we see evidence of that in Russia. I believe that having a strong position and some resilience and stamina over time is what’s necessary to convince Russia that it’s not going to get better for them and potentially can get worse,” he said. “This is a shockingly big and important humanitarian catastrophe that no one talks about. We have over 10,000 people killed” so far during the Ukraine conflict, Ambassador Volker said. (RFE/RL with reporting by Interfax)
Italy PM for easing of Russia sanctions
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is urging an end to European Union sanctions on Russia and said he is committed to boosting trade with Moscow, despite the sanctions. On his first trip to Moscow since taking office in June, Mr. Conte on October 24 hailed Russia as an essential global player and invited Mr. Putin to visit Italy. The Italian premier said he believes the split between the EU and Russia over the Ukrainian conflict that began in 2014 has lasted too long, and he would like to see the sanctions against Russia lifted. “For Italy, the sanctions aren’t the goal. They are an instrument that must be overcome as soon as possible,” said Mr. Conte, the head of Italy’s new populist governing coalition. However, he declined to say if Rome is ready to veto a planned renewal of the sanctions expected to come before EU leaders in December. “Italy would like to persuade other European countries that the only way forward is through dialogue,” he said. Mr. Conte held hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on October 24, and then the two looked on as officials signed a slew of trade and investment agreements aimed at overcoming a collapse in trade resulting from the EU’s sanctions as well as from Moscow’s retaliatory moves banning many European imports. Bilateral trade has increased recently as the Russian economy has climbed out of recession, but it remains a fraction of what it was before EU sanctions were first imposed in 2014 over Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and its support for a separatist war in eastern Ukraine. Most EU members, led by Germany, have said the sanctions must remain in place until Russia and Ukraine make progress toward ending the conflict. But Mr. Conte suggested the sanctions should be eased before then. “The Ukrainian crisis has caused a split and blocked the dialogue,” he said. “We can’t allow that. We should leave that period behind. It already has lasted for too long.” Mr. Putin said Russian-Italian trade reached $24 billion last year, but he said that was less than half the nearly $54 billion total in 2013, the year before the EU sanctions took effect. “Regrettably, Italy’s niche in the Russian market has decreased, but the volume of our economic ties has remained strong,” Mr. Putin said. Mr. Conte’s populist coalition includes the right-wing League party, which has called for a quick end to the EU sanctions on Russia, arguing they have hurt Italian exporters as much as Russian businesses. League leader Matteo Salvini, a deputy prime minister who visited Russia earlier this month, has praised Mr. Putin and said Italy would lobby the EU to lift the sanctions. The call for easing sanctions has been echoed by Italian businesses. The Italian agricultural lobby, Coldiretti, has called for an end to the EU sanctions as well as Russia’s retaliatory ban on EU food imports, saying they have cost Italian food producers 1 billion euros since they were imposed. Mr. Putin said Italian investment in Russia has continued despite the restrictions, with more than 500 Italian companies having recently invested about $5 billion in developing projects in energy, transport, high technology, food industries, and other sectors. “We are ready to support the Italian companies that intend to develop cooperation with Russian partners,” Mr. Conte said. “It’s our duty to strengthen industrial cooperation with Russia.” (RFE/RL with reporting by AP and Reuters)
Russia to ban some Ukrainian imports
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow is preparing sanctions that will ban imports to Russia of some Ukrainian products. Mr. Medvedev also said on October 23 in Kaliningrad that a list is being prepared of Ukrainian citizens and companies being targeted by Moscow’s sanctions. “The sanctions will affect many known people in Ukraine and… some certain types of goods produced in Ukraine will be banned from being imported to the Russian Federation,” Mr. Medvedev said, adding that he plans to sign documents on sanctions against Ukraine in “a very short period of time.” Mr. Medvedev did not specify which Ukrainian products would be listed under Russia’s import ban. He mentioned that despite strained relations with Ukraine, Russia “remains the largest trade partner” of Ukraine, trying to stress the possible economic impact of the sanctions. (RFE/RL with reporting by TASS, Interfax, and RIA Novosti)
Putin decrees special economic measures
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting the stage for “special economic measures” in response to what the document calls Ukraine’s “unfriendly actions” against Russian citizens and companies. In the decree signed and posted on the Kremlin website on October 22, Mr. Putin instructs the government to draft a list of Ukrainian firms and individuals to be targeted for economic sanctions. The decree also orders the government to outline the sanctions and says it can be cancelled if Ukraine lifts all restrictions it has imposed against Russian citizens and companies. Like the United States and the European Union, Kyiv has imposed sanctions on Russian tycoons, companies, and other entities in response to Moscow’s seizure of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and its support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. In June, Mr. Putin signed a law on countermeasures against the United States and other countries that have sanctions against Russia. (RFE/RL)
U.S.: Kyiv passes key Minsk hurdle
U.S. State Department spokespersons Heather Nauert on October 11 released a press statement noting that Ukraine had passed a key hurdle in the implementation of the Minsk agreements. She stated: “The United States congratulates Ukraine’s Parliament and Ukrainian leadership on extending the law on special status for Russia-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine. Extending this law, which would have expired yesterday, demonstrates Ukraine’s continued commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and implementation of the Minsk agreements. Ukraine’s brave step towards peace stands in sharp comparison to Russia’s continued failure to fulfill its Minsk commitments.” Ms Nauert also said: “We call on Russia to join Ukraine in pursuing peace. Russia and the forces it arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside have yet to follow through on repeated commitments to cease hostilities, withdraw foreign fighters, exchange detainees, or disband the illegal armed formations. Moscow should institute a full and comprehensive ceasefire and cancel the illegal sham elections it is organizing in the Russia-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. The United States continues to support the efforts of France and Germany in the Normandy Format to advance implementation of the Minsk agreements and we remain open to dialogue with Moscow on avenues for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.” (U.S. Department of State)
EU court rejects Firtash’s appeal
The European Union’s top court turned away an appeal by Dmytro Firtash, the latest twist for the Ukrainian oligarch whose extradition from Austria the United States has been fighting for since his 2014 arrest in Vienna. The October 24 ruling by the EU Court of Justice paves the way for the Austrian Supreme Court to hear Mr. Firtash’s challenge to the U.S. extradition request. If the Austrian Supreme Court rules for his extradition, a final decision will then be made by the country’s justice minister. A former business partner of President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and one of Ukraine’s wealthiest men, Mr. Firtash has been charged in a U.S. federal court in Chicago, as part of an alleged bribery scheme involving titanium supplies for aircraft giant Boeing. His case has seen several twists, including being rearrested in Vienna on a Spanish warrant in February 2017, just minutes after an Austrian court cleared the way for his U.S. extradition. It’s unclear when the Austrian Supreme Court will hear the case. However, his lead U.S. lawyer, former federal prosecutor Dan Webb, told the Chicago federal court earlier this month that it was believed “that the Austrian Supreme Court will move quickly and Mr. Firtash could face extradition in a short time frame following the decision by the Court of Justice.” Mr. Firtash, who has denied the charges, has been out on bail since shortly after his arrest, but barred from leaving Austria. His lawyers had argued that the U.S. prosecution was politically motivated. Mr. Firtash’s wealth stems in large part from the lucrative natural gas trade in Ukraine, whose pipelines have long served as the key conduit for Russian gas supplies heading to Western Europe. He is also considered an important financier of the Party of Regions political party, and was involved in hiring Mr. Manafort, then a U.S. political consultant and lobbyist, in 2005 to help rebuild the party after its then-leader, Viktor Yanukovych, was defeated for the presidency by Viktor Yushchenko following the 2004 Orange Revolution. Mr. Firtash also had a brief partnership with Mr. Manafort in 2008 to invest in New York City real estate, although that deal never materialized. (Mike Eckel of RFE/RL)