Huntsman: Ukraine key to improving ties
The new U.S. ambassador to Russia says restoring Ukrainian sovereignty over all its territory will be a key issue in his dealings with Moscow as he begins his tenure amid a period of high tensions between the two world powers. Speaking in Salt Lake City, former governor of Utah Jon Huntsman on October 7 said he wants to improve relations with Russia, but he insisted the first step would be for Moscow to return Ukrainian control to territory within its internationally recognized borders. “This is an issue not only with the United States, but with Europe, Canada, and virtually every other developed country,” said Mr. Huntsman, who was visiting his home state for a ceremonial swearing-in event. Moscow seized the Crimean Peninsula from Kyiv’s control and has supported separatists in eastern Ukraine in a war that has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. The United States, other Western countries, and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, just one of many global issues separating the two countries. Ambassador Huntsman, who presented his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on October 3, told the Salt Lake City crowd that he wants to work with Moscow to solve the crisis over North Korea’s banned nuclear and ballistic-missile programs. He called Pyongyang a threat to Russia and the rest of the world, not just to the United States. “Acting together, we think the United States and Russia could force the North Korean regime to the negotiating table to find a diplomatic solution,” he said. Mr. Huntsman also spoke of possible cooperation with Russia in the effort to defeat the Islamic State (IS) militant group and in efforts to end the six-year civil war in Syria, where Washington and Moscow back opposing sides. The severe tension in bilateral ties also stems from a January report by the U.S. intelligence community that determined Mr. Putin ordered an “influence campaign” targeting the 2016 presidential election in the United States. At a confirmation hearing before a Senate panel on September 19, Mr. Huntsman said there is “no question – underline, no question – that the Russian government interfered in the U.S. election last year. And Moscow continues to meddle in the democratic processes of our friends and allies.” Mr. Huntsman served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush and as ambassador to China under President Barack Obama. He briefly ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP, AFP, and KSL.com)
Volker meets Kremlin aide in Belgrade
Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, met with Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov on October 7 in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said the two men held talks “dedicated to the Ukraine crisis” in remarks carried by state broadcaster Radio Television Serbia. Mr. Dacic did not provide any other details and no specifics have emerged from the closed-door meeting. The venue of the closed-door talks was not disclosed, although Serbian media said the two men met at a Belgrade hotel. Ambassador Volker tweeted on October 5 that he would meet Mr. Surkov on October 7 to discuss “how to catalyze Minsk implementation and restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” The reference is to a February 2015 agreement, signed in the Belarusian capital, that called for a ceasefire and set out steps to end the conflict that have gone largely unimplemented. The October 7 meeting was the second between Ambassador Volker and Mr. Surkov, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s point man for the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Belgrade is a neutral venue. Mr. Volker had refused to meet with Mr. Surkov in Russia, and Mr. Surkov is barred from the European Union under sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The two held talks for the first time on August 21 in Minsk. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appointed Mr. Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, as the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations in July. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS and Radio Television Serbia)
Rasmussen: Putin proposal a ‘Trojan horse’
Former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Russia’s proposal to send United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine is “a Trojan horse,” but it would be worth trying to “reshape” it, since it presented the first opportunity in a long time to resolve the conflict. Mr. Putin last month said that U.N. peacekeepers might be deployed on the contact line separating the sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region – a proposal that has been dismissed by both Kyiv and the West. “In its current form, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s peacekeeping proposal is what I would call a Trojan horse, it is a non-starter,” Mr. Rasmussen told a conference organized by the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Brussels on October 11. Mr. Rasmussen added, however, that “we need to seize the moment and try to reshape it to put him [Putin] to the test, because this is our first opening in years to actually end the conflict, so I think it would be a big mistake just to denounce his proposal.” Mr. Rasmussen, who currently works as a security adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, stated: “We should push for a robust mandate that seeks to protect civilians, protect infrastructure, and cover the entire territory of Donbas, not just the contact line. If we followed President Putin’s proposal we would just have what I’d call a U.N.-mandated frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine, and that would of course be unacceptable.” He also urged that a U.N. assessment team be sent to Ukraine ahead of any future peacekeeping force – a move that wouldn’t require consent from the U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member. (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL’s Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak)
European Parliament on Eastern Partnership
The European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee is calling for tighter sanctions on Russia and a mechanism for bringing Eastern Partnership countries such as Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine closer to the European Union. The committee approved the recommendations in an October 10 vote ahead of an Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Brussels on November 24. They are nonbinding and could be ignored when EU heads of state and government meet with their counterparts from the six Eastern partners – which also include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus – but the full European Parliament plenary is set to endorse the document shortly before the summit. It includes a call for the EU to consider “an attractive longer-term EaP+ model” for countries that have already concluded association agreements “that could eventually lead to joining the customs union, energy union, digital union and Schengen area.” It also urges “more immediate measures such as additional unilateral tariff preferences, a concrete time-frame for the abolition of roaming tariffs between the partners and the EU, and the development of high-capacity broadband.” Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have concluded association agreements tightening ties with the EU. The European Parliament reiterated that “the association agreements with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine do not constitute the final goal in their relations with the EU.” Other ideas endorsed by the committee include the establishment of a trust fund for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova that would focus on private and public investments, and the possibility of holding a donors’ conference for Ukraine “in support of its humanitarian needs induced by the conflict in the East and the annexation of Crimea.” The parliamentary committee endorsed the imposition of more sanctions against Russia while noting that, despite existing punitive measures, Moscow’s “military presence in the region has nevertheless grown over the last years.” (Rikard Jozwiak, RFE/RL)
Czech president, PM clash over sanctions
The Czech Republic’s top two officials have clashed over the country’s support for European Union sanctions against Russia. In an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on October 10, President Milos Zeman questioned the effectiveness of the sanctions that were imposed following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. Mr. Zeman said that Moscow’s move was a “fait accompli” and that there should be dialogue over Russian compensation to Ukraine, possibly with gas, oil, or money. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka swiftly rejected Mr. Zeman’s comments, saying they were “in sharp contradiction of our foreign policy” and that the president “had no mandate” to make the speech. The Ukrainian delegation attending the speech walked out halfway through it. A representative in attendance for the Russian government said that, while the Kremlin welcomes Mr. Zeman’s recognition of the status of Crimea as a “done deal,” the region “is not the subject of haggling or transactions.” (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP, TASS and denik.cz)
Erdogan on Ukraine’s territorial integrity
During a visit to Kyiv, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “We neither did, nor will we recognize” the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia, Mr. Erdogan said on October 9 at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko. Mr. Erdogan also said that Ankara will continue to follow the situation of Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars and thanked Ukraine for defending their rights. “Today we agreed to continue to fight for the protection of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea in the framework of all international mechanisms,” Mr. Poroshenko wrote on Twitter. The Ukrainian president told the press conference that his three-hour talks with President Erdogan gave “grounds for optimism about the development of bilateral cooperation in all spheres.” Mr. Erdogan said that the two sides agreed on the goal of raising the volume of bilateral trade from $3.8 billion to $10 billion a year “as quickly as possible.” Deals signed during the visit included agreements on the protection of investments and the avoidance of double taxation, as well as a plan for the development of Ukrainian-Turkish relations through 2019. The Turkish president has also sought to maintain warm ties with Russia and cooperates with Moscow on establishing “de-escalation zones” in Syria. Moscow and Ankara support different sides in Syria’s civil war. Refat Chubarov, chairman of the Crimean Tatars’ self-governing body, the Mejlis, told RFE/RL on October 9 that he believes one of the reasons why Ankara has not joined the European Union in imposing sanctions against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine is that European leaders have been dragging their feet over Turkey’s bid to join the bloc. “Turkey is against Russia’s activities [in Crimea]. …However, to my mind, the issue is linked to the fact that for decades Turkey has been trying to join the European Union as a full-fledged member. But the EU has always found reasons to reject the bid. And now Turkey is reacting to that,” Mr. Chubarov said. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service with reporting by AP and Interfax)
Ukraine 81st on competitiveness list
Ukraine was ranked 81st on the 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Report. Russia has led its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with the highest ranking among the group in the World Economic Forum (WEF), ranking 38th on the list of 137 countries rated. Kazakhstan was next at 57 on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). Other EEU nations ranked were Armenia at 73 and Kyrgyzstan at 102. Belarus, also a member of the economic grouping, was not ranked. Other countries ranked included Azerbaijan at 35, Georgia at 67, Tajikistan at 79 and Moldova at 89. Switzerland topped the list, with the United States in second place. Singapore was third, the Netherlands came in fourth, and Germany ranked fifth. “Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country,” said Klaus Schwab, WEF executive chairman. “Talents will become increasingly more important than capital and therefore the world is moving from the age of capitalism into the age of ‘talentism,’” he added. “Countries preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and simultaneously strengthening their political, economic and social systems will be the winners in the competitive race of the future.” The WEF said its index is based on “12 pillars” – institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods-market efficiency, labor-market efficiency, financial-market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation. (RFE/RL)
EuroParliament on prosecution of Crimeans
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution condemning Russian verdicts against dozens of Crimeans who opposed Moscow’s seizure of the peninsula and demanding the release of those who are behind bars. In a resolution adopted on October 5, the Parliament sharply criticized verdicts against nearly 50 Crimean Tatars and other opponents of the Russian occupation and takeover of the Ukrainian Black Sea region in 2014. It condemned the recent convictions and sentences against Crimean Tatar leaders Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz by Russian-imposed courts on the peninsula, and called for their “immediate and unconditional release.” It also condemned the conviction of Crimean journalist Mykola Semena and demanded that all charges against him be “immediately and unconditionally dropped.” In the resolution, lawmakers urged the European Union to impose sanctions on Crimean and Russian officials who are directly responsible for the Semena, Umerov and Chiygoz cases. They called for “unhindered access of international human rights observers, including specialized structures of the U.N., OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] and [the Council of Europe], to the Crimean peninsula in order to investigate the situation on the peninsula and for the establishment of [an] independent monitoring mechanism.” Mr. Semena, an RFE/RL contributor, was convicted on September 25 on separatism charges and handed a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence and a ban on future journalistic activity. Mr. Umerov was convicted of separatism on September 27 and sentenced to two years in a colony settlement, a penitentiary in which convicts usually live near a factory or farm where they are forced to work. Mr. Chiygoz was convicted on September 11 of organizing an illegal demonstration and sentenced to eight years in prison. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels)
Prosecutor claims FSB behind Kyiv slaying
Ukraine’s top prosecutor has claimed that the killing of a former Russian lawmaker who was shot dead in Kyiv in March was ordered by a former partner of the victim’s wife, and suggested that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was behind it. Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko’s October 9 announcement was billed as a breakthrough in the probe into the killing of Denis Voronenkov, a former State Duma deputy who defected to Ukraine and became a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Voronenkov was gunned down in broad daylight in central Kyiv on March 23. The alleged gunman in the contract-style killing, Crimean-born Ukrainian national Pavlo Parshov, died in the hospital after being shot by Voronenkov’s wounded bodyguard. In the new statement, Mr. Lutsenko said Ukrainian investigators had discovered that the slaying was ordered by Vladimir Tyurin, a Russian he described as a “criminal kingpin… who is under FSB control.” Mr. Lutsenko asserted that Mr. Tyurin also had “personal reasons” to kill Voronenkov, who he said “used to be the common-law husband of Maria Maksakova, who later became Voronenkov’s wife.” He said Ukraine would seek Mr. Tyurin’s extradition from Russia. Mr. Tyurin denies involvement and dismissed the claim as “nonsense,” according to a former lawyer for the Russian. Voronenkov’s killing “is the doing of Ukrainian nationalists, who hoped that the Ukrainian authorities would then use it for a new accusation against Russia,” the Interfax news agency quoted lawyer Sergei Belyak as saying. Mr. Tyurin “has no connection to this crime,” he said. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Bills on eastern Ukraine war advance
A Ukrainian parliamentary debate on legislation addressing the conflict in the country’s east was interrupted by scuffles and a smoke grenade that was tossed into the auditorium. Despite the disruption, lawmakers gave approval on October 6 to two bills submitted by President Petro Poroshenko, whose government is fighting Russia-backed separatists in a war that has killed more than 10,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. One of the bills sets out steps to restore Ukrainian sovereignty over separatist-held parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border Russia, and the other is a bid to create “the conditions necessary for peaceful regulation” of the conflict. Before votes in which the Verkhovna Rada approved the bills, opposition lawmakers scuffled with members of Mr. Poroshenko’s party near the podium. Minutes after the votes, Yuriy Levchenko of the nationalist Svoboda party threw a smoke grenade – saying later that he did so “to protest the anti-constitutional move.” The first bill would define territory controlled by the separatists as “temporarily occupied,” define Moscow’s actions in those areas as “Russian aggression against Ukraine,” and give the president the right to use the armed forces to restore control. It would also give U.N. Security Council resolutions precedence over the February 2015 deal on a ceasefire and steps toward peace known as the Minsk agreement. The second bill would prolong, by a year, the legal force of a 2014 law on self-governing structures in the separatist-held areas. Lawmakers from the People’s Front, Batkivshchyna and Samopomich parties have opposed the second bill, saying it gives the separatists legal status. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)