UCC appeals to Canadian MPs
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) is calling on Canada’s Members of Parliament to take a strong stand in support of over 70 Ukrainian political prisoners illegally jailed by Russia. As the fall session of Parliament gets under way, on September 18 the UCC sent a letter and briefing note to Canada’s MPs urging them to support the immediate implementation of sanctions against Russian officials responsible for the illegal imprisonment and maltreatment of Ukrainian political prisoners. “Ukrainian political prisoners are subject to serious violations of their human rights, including documented cases of torture, ill treatment and refusal to provide medical care. The names of the Russian officials responsible for these violations are easily identifiable,” stated UCC CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn in the letter to MPs. “The continuing inaction of the government of Canada on this issue is a matter of increasing alarm to the 1.3-million strong Ukrainian community in Canada. The UCC has raised this issue in numerous communications with high-ranking Canadian officials.” In October 2017, Canada’s Parliament adopted the Magnitsky Act, which gives the government of Canada the tools to sanction foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. “Three political prisoners – Volodymyr Balukh, Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Shumkov – are on hunger strikes lasting over 100 days in protest against Russia’s ongoing illegal detentions of Ukrainian political prisoners and violations of human rights,” stated Mr. Michalchyshyn. “Canada, which aspires to leadership in supporting human rights around the world, needs to take immediate action against Russian officials responsible for their imprisonment.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
Moscow claims missile came from Ukraine
The Russian military has made a new claim about the downing of a passenger jet over the war zone in eastern Ukraine in 2014, asserting that the missile that brought Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 down, killing all 298 passengers and crew, was sent to Soviet Ukraine after it was made in 1986 and never returned to Russia. Russian Defense Ministry officials made the claim at a news conference in Moscow on September 17, in an apparent attempt to discredit the findings of an international investigation that determined the system that fired the missile was brought into Ukraine from Russia before the Boeing 777 was shot down on July 17, 2014, crashing in an area held by Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region, and smuggled back into Russia afterward. Kyiv swiftly disputed the Russian assertion, which a senior Ukrainian official called an “awkward fake,” while the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said that it was still waiting for Russia to send documents it requested long ago and that Russia had made “factually inaccurate“ claims in the past. In a statement to RFE/RL, the Dutch government said it had “taken notice of the publications in relation to the press conference by the Russian Ministry of Defense.” The statement added, “The Netherlands has the utmost confidence in the findings and conclusions of the JIT,” and noted that “The JIT investigation has broad support by the international community. The government is committed to full cooperation with the criminal investigation by all countries concerned as reflected in [U.N. Security Council] Resolution 2166.” Speaking to RFE/RL’s Russian Service in an interview, the founder of cybersleuthing outfit Bellingcat accused Russia of “lying about the content” of videos it used as evidence, and said there was “absolutely no way to know” whether the records it cited are genuine. The JIT also found that the Buk missile came from Russia’s 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade and was fired from territory held by the Russia-backed separatists. Many of the JIT’s findings have been corroborated or supported by evidence gathered by journalists and independent investigators, such as the British-based Bellingcat. Citing what they said were newly declassified documents, Russian Defense Ministry officials asserted that the missile was manufactured in Dolgoprudny, outside Moscow, in 1986 – five years before the Soviet Union fell apart – and was sent by railway to a missile brigade in the Ternopil region of western Ukraine in December of that year. “The missile belongs to the Ukrainian armed forces and never returned to Russian territory,” said Lieutenant General Nikolai Parshin, chief of the Defense Ministry’s missile and artillery department. In Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said Russia’s “statement alleging that the missile that downed MH 17 had a Ukrainian footprint was yet another awkward fake [issued] by the Kremlin in order to conceal its crime, which has been proven by both the official investigation and by independent expert groups.” The JIT commented that it had “always carefully analyzed” information provided by Russia, and in doing so “has found that information from the Russian Ministry of Defense previously presented to the public and provided to the JIT was factually inaccurate on several points.” Bellingcat’s Higgins echoed that statement, telling RFE/RL’s Russian Service that “the Russian Ministry of Defense has a long and well-established track record of lying and faking evidence.” The new Russian assertions follow several other attempts by Russia to lay blame for the downing of MH 17 on Ukraine, including initial suggestions – now discredited – that the jet was shot down by a Ukrainian warplane. (RFE/RL’s Russia Service, Current Time TV, with reporting by Meduza, AP, and Interfax)
Volker: More lethal weaponry possible
The United States is considering sending more lethal weaponry to Kyiv to build up its naval and air defenses, Washington’s special envoy for Ukraine said, as concerns mount that Russia may be stepping up operations in coastal waters. In an interview with RFE/RL on September 13, Kurt Volker blamed Russia for fueling the conflict. He also said that Washington and Moscow still have serious differences over a possible United Nations peacekeeping force that could be deployed to help bring an end to the fighting in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ambassador Volker said he thought that Russian President Vladimir Putin was unwilling to negotiate much of anything related to the conflict at least until after Ukraine’s presidential elections next March, or with “[Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko still in power.” Mr. Volker said he has made several overtures to his Russian counterpart, Vladislav Surkov, since their last meeting in Dubai in January, but he has received no response. In January, Mr. Surkov showed interest in the idea of a phased deployment of peacekeepers, Mr. Volker said. Since then, however, the Russians “have backed away and have some objections.” Another meeting is possible, he said, but “right now, there is nothing scheduled.” In recent months, Russia has stepped up naval operations in the shared Sea of Azov, where, Mr. Volker said, “Ukrainians have virtually no naval capability or limited capability, so [the Russians] feel they can assert dominance there.” Ukraine’s lack of robust naval and air-defense capabilities is a weakness the special envoy said Washington looks set on addressing. “I think that’s going to be the focus as we develop the next steps in our defense cooperation,” he added. Washington has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military equipment and training to the Ukrainian armed forces, and sanctions imposed for the annexation and for fueling the conflict remain in place. More notably, the administration of President Donald Trump earlier this year sent Ukraine 210 advanced antitank missiles known as Javelins, a move President Barack Obama had resisted for fear of antagonizing Moscow. Asked about Mr. Trump’s commitment to Ukraine, Mr. Volker said that everything the United States has done for Kyiv “has been done with the president’s approval, so there’s no policy gap.” He noted, “The way I read what the president is doing, [he] is trying to keep a door open for Putin to be able to climb down, negotiate some kind of agreement, see if we can reduce the risk of conflict, see if we can actually create peace in Ukraine.” He added, “At the same time, the policy has been to continue to layer on additional steps of pushback on Russia and support for Ukraine as a way to induce Russia to negotiate,” he said. (Christopher Miller of RFE/RL)
Poroshenko: Ukraine needs IMF help
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says his country needs help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and external borrowing due to its large debt burden. “We could manage without external borrowing if we did not have to repay old debts,” Mr. Poroshenko said in a speech at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv on September 14. His comments came as the president’s parliamentary representative Iryna Lutsenko said Ukraine had started talks with the IMF on a new standby agreement that would replace the current $17.5 billion assistance program. “This means that the IMF appreciated the reforms, the pace, the results of the reforms that we made within the framework of that program and are ready to provide us with another program,” she said on the sidelines of the YES meeting in Kyiv. In his address to the conference, Mr. Poroshenko reiterated that Ukraine seeks membership in both NATO and the EU. “Ukraine’s entry into the EU and NATO will put an end to its ‘colonial status’,” he said. The president also said the EU is “incomplete” without Ukraine. “Why is that? Because our northeastern border, instead of the Urals, is the frontier of modern European civilization,” Mr. Poroshenko said at the conference, in comments quoted by the Interfax news agency. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax)
EU prolongs sanctions against Russia
The European Union has extended by another six months visa bans and asset freeze against 155 Russian and Ukrainian individuals, as well as 44 companies, for undermining or threatening the independence of Ukraine. “An assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the sanctions regime,” The EU council said in a statement issued on September 13. The list of sanctioned individuals includes the Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko who was killed in an explosion in the eastern city on August 31. It also includes a deceased member of the Russian Duma, Iosif Kobzon. EU sources told RFE/RL that both were likely to be de-listed at a later stage but that the bloc wanted to ensure that their potential assets held in the EU aren’t passed over to someone else when they are removed from the list. The sanctions were first imposed in March 2014 over Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine and its seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. They have been renewed every six months since then. They have been now extended until March 15. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters)
EU court upholds Russia sanctions
The European Union’s General Court has upheld the bloc’s sanctions regime against Russian bank and energy companies over Russia’s involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. “The General Court of the EU upholds restrictive measures adopted by the Council against a number of Russian banks and oil and gas companies in connection with the crisis in Ukraine,” the court said in September 13 statement. Energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, as well as the banks DenizBank, PSC Prominvestbank, Sberbank, and Vnesheconombank had sought to annul the sanctions imposed on them by the EU in 2014 as a response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict has killed more than 10,300 people in the last four years. The EU sanctions restrict the access of the Russian banks and gas companies to some financial transactions and certain sensitive goods and technologies, as well as to capital markets in the EU, and prohibit the provision of services required for certain oil transactions. The court said that the “stated objective of the contested acts is to increase the costs of Russia’s actions to undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, and to promote a peaceful settlement of the crisis,” and that “this objective is consistent with the objective of maintaining peace and international security.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters)
Merkel: No sanctions relief without progress
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says European Union sanctions on Moscow will remain in place until a sustainable ceasefire is achieved in Ukraine under the so-called Minsk accords. “Before the Minsk agreement has been implemented or progress has been made in that regard, we will not consider lifting sanctions on Russia,” Ms. Merkel told reporters on September 14 in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. “Restoring peace and territorial integrity of Ukraine remains our goal,” she said. Germany and France helped broker ceasefire deals as part of the Minsk accords – September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict – but they have failed to hold. During her trip to Lithuania, Chancellor Merkel also visited German troops deployed to the Baltic country as part of NATO’s force stationed in the region to reassure allies in the face of a more aggressive Russian foreign policy. “We are proud that you are here,” she said during a speech at the barracks in Rukla. Germany has some 450 soldiers in Lithuania. Russia has complained that the NATO presence on its borders is a provocation. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP, AFP and DPA)
Sanctions possible over Nord Stream 2
Washington may follow through on threats to impose sanctions over the construction of an underwater natural-gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said. Speaking on September 13 alongside Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak in Moscow, Mr. Perry also called on Russia to be a “responsible supplier” and to stop using its resources for “influence and disruption.” The Nord Stream 2 project aims to double the capacity of an already existing pipeline to 110 billion cubic meters per year – more than one-quarter of the European Union’s gas consumption. The 1,230-kilometer link would deliver natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing the traditional route through Ukraine. Asked during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart whether the United States might impose punitive measures against Nord Stream 2 and other projects, the energy secretary said, “Yes.” He added, “Minister Novak and I both agree that getting to that point of sanctions is not where we want to go.” Mr. Perry declined to specify what level of progress on Nord Stream 2 could trigger sanctions. The United States, Poland, the Baltic states, and several other EU countries have expressed concern about the project, which would avoid existing gas pipelines through Ukraine and increase Europe’s energy dependence on Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump last year signed a law giving him the right to sanction companies involved in Nord Stream 2, which is led by Russian gas giant Gazprom, along with other European investors. The Kremlin said the move was economically motivated and an attempt to promote U.S. liquefied natural gas in Europe. In Moscow, Perry said the gas link will “create a new choke point at a shallow depth vulnerable to disruption.” The United States supports “the desire of Europeans to minimize their dependence on a single energy supplier” and supports increased competition, he added. Mr. Novak said Moscow shared the view that “energy cannot be a tool to exercise pressure” and that consumers “should be able to choose the suppliers.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP and Bloomberg)
ECHR ruling on journalist’s cellphone data
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the Ukrainian government not to access any data from the cell phone of RFE/RL investigative reporter Natalia Sedletska. The September 18 order is in effect until October 18 to give Ms. Sedletska time to prepare a full complaint to the court. The ECHR pledged to consider her appeal “as a matter of priority.” On August 27, Kyiv’s Pechersk district court approved a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office to allow investigators to review all data from Ms. Sedletska’s phone from July 1, 2016 through November 30, 2017. The ruling stems from a criminal investigation into the alleged disclosure of state secrets to journalists in 2017 by Artem Sytnyk, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty spokeswoman Joanna Levison said earlier this month that the court’s ruling is “inconsistent with Ukraine’s own commitments to promote and protect a free press.” Ms. Sedletska is the host of “Schemes,” an award-winning anti-corruption television program by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service and Ukrainian Public Television. The program reported on several investigations involving senior Ukrainian officials, including Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, during the period in question. The United States, the European Union, and international media watchdogs have expressed concern over the Ukrainian court ruling. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine posted on Twitter on September 5 that it could have “a chilling effect on press freedom and anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.” (RFE/RL)