Mattis on weapons for Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that the U.S. role in Ukraine is not changing and Russia has no cause for concern about a U.S. decision last week to supply new weapons to Kyiv. “As long as no one wants to invade Ukraine, hopefully it won’t have any big impact. They’re defensive weapons,” Mr. Mattis said on December 29, 2017, in his first remarks since the U.S. State Department announced approval of “enhanced defensive capabilities” for Ukraine on December 22. Moscow has denounced the move, saying it “crossed a line” and was “clearly pushing [Ukraine] towards new bloodshed.” The United States has not specified what new weapons it will provide to Ukraine, but U.S. media reports have said they could include Javelin anti-tank missiles, which Ukraine has urged the United States to supply. Mr. Mattis said providing new weapons for Ukraine does not signal any plan to expand the U.S. presence there, despite speculation that the move will force the United States to get more deeply involved in the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,300 people since it broke out in 2014. “I don’t see an evolving U.S military role in Ukraine,” he said. “Right now, we have some trainers there helping to train their army to NATO standards, and that has a lot to do with making certain it serves the needs of the Ukrainian people, in the way democracies’ armies do.” The secretary of defense said the number of U.S. military trainers in Ukraine has not changed in the last six months. “So the U.S. military role remains the same,” he said. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and TASS)
Freeland meets with Poroshenko
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland met with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on December 21. The Presidential Administration reported that Mr. Poroshenko thanked Canada for the support in the implementation of reforms and countering Russian aggression. “Vivid evidence of such assistance is the recent decision of Ottawa to include Ukraine in the list of countries to which it is allowed to supply arms,” an administration release noted. Ms. Freeland and Mr. Poroshenko discussed the dangerous situation in the Donbas, and particular attention was paid to Russia’s decision to leave the Joint Center for Coordination and Control. The Presidential Administration also reported that further steps were coordinated to advance the initiative of deploying a U.N. peacekeeping mission throughout the occupied Donbas area, including the uncontrolled part of the Ukrainian-Russian state border. Minister Freeland also informed the Ukrainian president about the close coordination of approaches with the United States, in particular during a meeting held with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on December 19, 2017. It was also agreed to continue joint efforts to free the Ukrainian hostages in the Donbas and political prisoners illegally detained in Russia and occupied Crimea. Mr. Poroshenko congratulated Canada on its forthcoming chairmanship of the Group of Seven and expressed confidence that the issue of Ukraine would be among the priorities on its agenda. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Hundreds of captives exchanged
European leaders hailed a long-awaited exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that enabled hundreds of former captives to return to their homes for the New Year holiday. In the biggest exchange of prisoners since the war in eastern Ukraine began in 2014, officials said 238 “separatists” held by the Ukrainian government were handed over to separatist-controlled areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions on December 27, 2017, while 74 captured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were released by the separatists into government hands. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the exchange as an “important humanitarian gesture before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas.” The European leaders and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which supervised the exchange, urged the two sides to use momentum from the swap to work toward a broader peace in the region. The “exchange is not only a humanitarian act, but also a helpful step in confidence-building,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissi, the organization’s chairman. From the exchange location, the freed Ukrainian soldiers flew by helicopter to Kharkiv, a government-controlled regional capital further northwest. They were then flown by plane to Kyiv. “I’m out of hell. I survived,” said former captive Yevhen Chudentsov, who said he was taken prisoner in February 2015 while serving with a Ukrainian volunteer battalion. Mr. Chudentsov, whose front teeth were knocked out, said he was beaten and threatened while in separatist custody and was initially sentenced to death by the separatists, who later changed that to 30 years in prison. The mother of Ukrainian prisoner Oleksandr Oliynyk said her son called during the exchange. “I have not heard his voice for three and a half years,” she told Ukrainian news channel 112. “You can’t imagine what it means for a mother, not to see your child for three and a half years, since August 2014.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko greeted the prisoners freed by the separatists in the town of Horlivka near the frontline of the conflict and praised their endurance. “I’m grateful to all those who remained loyal to Ukraine in those unbearable conditions,” he said. “They have shown their adherence to the principles of freedom and independence.” Hundreds of people turned out at the Kyiv airport late on December 27 to welcome the soldiers home, waving national flags, and bouquets of flowers, and shouting “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to our heroes!” Olga Kobtseva, a representative for separatists in the Luhansk region, told RFE/RL that 99 people from separatist-controlled territory in the Luhansk region were supposed to be part of the prisoner swap, but that 26 of them had either been released earlier or chose not to return to separatist-controlled territory. Officials said that 165 people had been released by the government to separatists in the Donetsk province. Ukrainian ombudswoman Valeria Lutkovska said that 43 of the 306 government-held captives who authorities had said would be exchanged did not arrive at the exchange point on December 27 because they had been released from custody earlier. She also said that about 10 to 15 of the 306 chose not to return to separatist-controlled areas. The leader of separatists in the Donetsk region, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, said the swap is only the first stage of possible further moves to exchange captives. He said more lists of prisoners were being compiled. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Hromadske TV, Interfax, UNIAN, AFP, Reuters and AP)
Poroshenko seeks return of other captives
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he has ordered his government to “immediately” resume talks with Moscow on the release of Ukrainian citizens from Russian custody following a prisoner swap between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists. Visiting the Odesa region on December 28, 2017, Mr. Poroshenko said Kyiv “will do everything we can” to return all Ukrainians held in Russia or “as hostages in occupied territory” – a reference to Crimea and separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. “We cannot betray them. We cannot forget them.” Earlier in the day in Kyiv, the president said his government did not release any Russian citizens in the prisoner swap on December 27, 2017, which was the largest such exchange since the war in eastern Ukraine began in April 2014. “We will do more to get our citizens out of Russian jails… and because of that not a single Russian national was released by us now,” he said, hinting that Kyiv would only agree to release Russians in Ukrainian custody in exchange for Ukrainians held in Russia. On December 1, 2017, Ukrainian Ombuds-woman Valeria Lutkovska said more than 2,000 Ukrainian citizens remain in Russian custody. Mr. Poroshenko named several Ukrainians held in Russia, including filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and journalist Roman Sushchenko. Mr. Sentsov is serving a 20-year prison term, while Mr. Sushchenko is being held in Russia on suspicion of espionage. Kyiv says the charges against both men are fabricated. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by UNIAN and Ukrayinska Pravda)
U.S. comments on prisoner exchange
U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on December 28, 2017: “The United States welcomes yesterday’s exchange between the government of Ukraine and Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine of more than 300 detainees. This exchange is one step toward implementation of the Minsk agreements. We once again call on the sides to fully implement their Minsk commitments including through a true ‘all-for-all’ detainee exchange; a full ceasefire; the withdrawal of heavy weapons; safe and secure access for OSCE Special Monitoring Mission monitors; and humanitarian access to the conflict zone.” The statement also noted: As Secretary [Rex] Tillerson told Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov in their phone call this week, it is also important for Russia to return its representatives to the Joint Center on Control and Coordination. The fighting in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 10,000 lives and damaged important civilian infrastructure. Russia, which started this conflict and perpetuates it through active leadership of military units on the ground that attack Ukrainian positions daily, must commit to bring it to an end.” Ms. Nauert added: “The United States is ready, in coordination with France, Germany and Ukraine, to engage with Russia in support of the Minsk agreements to achieve an end to the conflict, including through a peacekeeping force with a broad mandate for safety and security across the entire conflict zone, control of the international border, and responsibility for ensuring the cantonment of heavy weapons.” (U.S. Department of State)
Vienna court rejects Firtash extradition
A court in Vienna has decided against extraditing Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash from Austria to Spain. Vienna’s Higher Regional Court issued its decision on December 19, 2017, citing insufficient documentation linking Mr. Firtash to alleged money laundering and organized crime. The 52-year-old billionaire also faces an extradition request from the United States, where he is charged with attempting to pay $18.5 million in bribes in a bid to win mining rights in India. Mr. Firtash has denied all the charges; he says they are politically motivated and aimed at limiting his political influence in Ukraine. Mr. Firtash was a major donor to Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych before the Russia-backed president’s ouster in February 2014. After the mass protests that ended Mr. Yanukovych’s presidency, Mr. Firtash fled to Russia and later went to Austria, where he was arrested in 2014 on a U.S. warrant. He was set free after posting bail of 125 million euros ($144 million U.S.,) but was ordered not to leave Austria. Mr. Firtash is the founder of a consortium involved in the fertilizer, titanium and gas sectors, and is the main shareholder of one of Ukraine’s most influential television channels. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by DPA and Kyiv Post)
Saakashvili claims evidence fabricated
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who is now an outspoken Ukrainian opposition figure, has accused Russia’s lead security agency of helping to fabricate evidence used against him in an ongoing criminal prosecution. Mr. Saakashvili made the accusation to reporters after a January 3 hearing at Kyiv’s Appeals Court, where prosecutors asked the court to place Mr. Saakashvili under house arrest for refusing to answer questions from the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU. He did not provide evidence to back up the assertion. Judges adjourned the hearing at the request of prosecutors until January 11 without issuing a ruling. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has accused Mr. Saakashvili, the former governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region, of abetting an alleged “criminal group” led by Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after his ouster in February 2014. Ukrainian authorities also claim that protests led by Mr. Saakashvili in Ukraine are part of a Russian plot against the government in Kyiv. Part of the evidence presented in the case is a recording of an alleged telephone conversation between Mr. Saakashvili and a pro-Russian Ukrainian businessman who is hiding in Russia. Mr. Lutsenko has charged that the businessman, Serhiy Kurchenko, offered Mr. Saakashvili money to organize protests and public disorder in Ukraine and that Mr. Saakashvili accepted a half-million-dollar payment. Mr. Saakashvili, who attended the January 3 Kyiv hearing with his wife and a son, denies all charges. He told reporters after the hearing that the forensic evidence presented by prosecutors was flawed. He also alleged that the evidence against him was fabricated by the SBU “with the involvement of” the FSB. “The so-called forensics saying it was proven that my so-called conversation with Kurchenko was authentic has a lot of flaws,” Mr. Saakashvili said. “First of all, I refused to give them a voice sample when I was interrogated by the SBU security service,” he said. “In spite of that, they were able to present forensic conclusions saying that the voice on the tape is mine,” Mr. Saakashvili said. “But their own expert says in the documentation that the forensic team didn’t have a proper voice sample to make a thorough analysis.” He added, “This reminds me of the old Soviet style when authorities proved the authenticity of whatever they themselves claimed.” There was no comment from the FSB to Mr. Saakashvili’s accusation. Meanwhile, the Kyiv District Administrative Court on January 3 turned down an appeal filed by Mr. Saakashvili to recognize him as a refugee or “person in need of additional protection,” the Interfax news agency reported. Mr. Saakashvili has said Ukrainian authorities were seeking to deny him the protection status to “create conditions” for his “expulsion from the country” so he can be extradited to Tbilisi, where he faces multiple charges – including abuse of his presidential powers and complicity in the 2006 murder of a Georgian banker. “Ten minutes ago a trial against me started in Tbilisi, the same time as in Kyiv,” Mr. Saakashvili said during his Kyiv hearing on January 3. “Do you think it’s by chance? Oligarchs are able to make deals. But they could have at least decided on different times.” (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Merkhat Sharipzhanov and Interfax)