Ukraine terminates Friendship Treaty
Ukraine said it would officially notify now-bitter rival Russia on September 21 that it will not extend its treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership with Moscow. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on September 19 that Kyiv will notify all relevant organizations, including the United Nations, about the move. According to the UNIAN news service, on September 25 Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed it had received an official note from Kyiv about Ukraine’s decision not to extend the friendship treaty. “The note was brought to us by a chargé d’affaires on Monday,” September 24, the director of the Second CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Andrei Rudenko was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency TASS. “This is formal notification that starting from April 1 this treaty will not be prolonged,” he added. The 10-year treaty was originally signed on May 31, 1997, with a clause that set its automatic extension if the parties did not take action to end it. The treaty took effect on April 1, 1999. Neither party notified the other of the wish to terminate before October 2008, thereby automatically prolonging it for another 10 years. The treaty sets out the principle of strategic partnership, the inviolability of existing borders, respect for territorial integrity and an obligation not to use one nation’s territory to damage the other’s security. “As friendly, equal, and sovereign states, the [parties] shall base their relations upon mutual respect and trust, strategic partnership and cooperation,” Article 1 of the treaty states. Ties between Ukraine and Russia have worsened since Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region and instigated a conflict between pro-Kremlin separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014. More than 10,300 people have been killed in the conflict. The United States and the European Union condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine and have slapped a series of sanctions against Moscow in reaction. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by the Kyiv Post, TASS and Interfax; UNIAN)
Volker: countries ready to send peacekeepers
In an interview with Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) published on September 25, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker named a number of countries that are prepared to send their own troops to the Donbas as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission. “As for countries, a number of states have already said that they will be ready to make their contribution. Sweden, Finland, Austria, Belarus, Serbia and Turkey have said so. In my view, this is a good range of countries, including several states which Russia considers more than a part of the West, and several states which the West considers more than part of the CIS space, and I think that a sense of balance would be logical,” Ambassador Volker remarked. The U.S. representative observed that organizational aspects still have to be discussed. “How the peacekeepers will be deployed, at what stage, will be discussed, but from a basic perspective, after complete deployment, these should be genuine peacekeeping forces, controlling the situation in the area of security,” he emphasized. Mr. Volker also said that the peacekeeping forces in the Donbas must act with a U.N. mandate. In Mr. Volker’s opinion, the problem with the Minsk agreements is that they are not being implemented. This is why the U.S., France and Germany have suggested that peacekeeping forces with a U.N. mandate be brought into the conflict region to independently provide security. In July, the foreign affairs ministers of the Normandy Format countries discussed the possibility of U.N. peacekeepers in the Donbas. The next meeting was planned for September. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said he believes that, by discussing the option of peacekeepers, Russia may be indirectly admitting to involvement in the war. The French foreign affairs minister, however, is convinced that the time for sending a U.N. peacekeeping mission to the Donbas has not yet come. The format of the peacekeeping mission is a controversial matter for Ukraine, and for Russia, which supports the militants. Ukraine wants a full-scale mission, which will take control of all the occupied Donbas territory, including the state borders. Russia is proposing only a “protective mission” in order to ensure the safety of observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the region of the confrontation line. (UAWire)
Poroshenko, Volker meet at U.N.
During the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine met on September 25 with U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker. They discussed the latest developments in the Donbas and the prospects for the deployment of a multinational peacekeeping mission under the aegis of the United Nations in its occupied part. Messrs. Poroshenko and Volker also stressed the need for the immediate release of all Ukrainian hostages. Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the field of security and defense between Ukraine and the U.S., as well as interaction on further implementation of reforms in our country. Ambassador Volker also informed the Ukrainian president about the increasing sanctions against the Russian Federation, in particular, the addition of 12 more Russian companies to the list of sanctioned entities. (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Russia’s ‘malign influence’ is discussed
A top U.S. State Department official has met with the Ukrainian foreign affairs minister in New York to discuss “cooperative efforts against Russia’s malign influence,” among other things, the State Department reported. A statement released by the department said the September 25 meeting between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly also touched upon Russia’s “use of energy projects to extort and intimidate Ukraine and other European allies,” as well as Kyiv’s progress in implementing political and economic reforms. Mr. Sullivan reiterated that the United States “will never recognize Russia’s attempted annexation” of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and reaffirmed “strong U.S. support” for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the statement. Relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low over issues including Russia’s seizure of Crimea in March 2014, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe, and the poisoning of a Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain in March. Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed militants has killed more than 10,300 in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. Moscow’s support for the “separatists” and its illegal annexation of Crimea prompted the United States, the European Union, and others to impose sanctions on Russia. Washington has also threatened to impose sanctions over the construction of an underwater natural gas pipeline to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing the traditional route through Ukraine. Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on September 25, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Germany “will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course” on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which aims to double the capacity of an already existing pipeline. (RFE/RL)
Senate Committee OKs Holodomor resolution
U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, announced that his bipartisan resolution marking the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 26. The resolution would commemorate the anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933, Joseph Stalin’s intentional starvation of millions of people in Ukraine, and recognize the Soviet Union’s role in perpetrating this genocide. The resolution builds on a number of congressional actions to condemn the Holodomor and honor its victims, including the 2015 dedication of the Holodomor Memorial in Washington. The resolution now awaits a vote on the Senate floor “We must never forget the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people at the hands of the Soviet Union during the Holodomor,” said Sen. Portman. “This important resolution honors the memory of the millions of Ukrainians who suffered under Joseph Stalin’s cruel policy of using starvation as a weapon to try to break Ukraine’s yearning for independence from Soviet oppression. Ukraine continues the fight today to defend its independence and sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression, and this resolution serves as an important reminder of the horrible atrocities inflicted upon Ukraine and the perseverance of a people whose spirit cannot be broken.” (Office of Sen. Rob Portman)
Court to review amendments on EU, NATO
Ukrainian lawmakers have voted to submit draft bills to the country’s top court that would enshrine Ukraine’s course toward Euro-Atlantic integration in the Constitution. A total of 321 lawmakers voted on September 20 to appeal to the Constitutional Court to review the proposed amendments. After the court issues its judgment, the draft bills will return to the Verkhovna Rada, where they will need at least 300 votes to pass. Earlier in the day, President Petro Poroshenko told lawmakers that Ukraine needs the constitutional amendments to make European Union and NATO membership its long-term goal. In his annual address to Parliament on Ukraine’s domestic and foreign policy, Mr. Poroshenko said the Ukrainian armed forces will meet the criteria for NATO membership by 2020. The move comes amid continued fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. Accords signed in Belarus’s capital, Minsk, in September 2014 and February 2015, have failed to put an end to the fighting. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters, Interfax and AP)
Poroshenko notes ‘risk’ of eased sanctions
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned that there is a risk of international sanctions imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine being eased. In his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine’s domestic and foreign policy, Mr. Poroshenko warned on September 20 that making concessions to Russia before it had handed the Crimean peninsula back to Ukraine would be a defeat for international law. “We will consistently oppose attempts to ease the sanctions pressure on Russia,” he told the Verkhovna Rada. “But know that there is a risk of softening [sanctions].” Moscow’s takeover of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine prompted the United States, the European Union, and others to impose sanctions on Russia. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Sanctions initiated against Crimea companies
Ukraine’s Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has initiated the introduction of sanctions against companies from temporarily occupied Crimea that produce and sell chemicals, the ministry’s press service has reported. “The ministry has prepared proposals on the application of sanctions to a number of legal entities that promote the production of chemical products on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, in spite of the current legislation of Ukraine, and those that sell these products on the territory of other countries,” the ministry said on September 25 in a statement on Facebook. The manufacturer of chemical products in the city of Armiansk, Titanium Investments LLC (Russia), is currently under sanctions. The ministry believes that chemical products were manufactured in violation of the established legal regime of temporarily occupied territories and using minerals illegally extracted from the fields belonging only to the Ukrainian people, in particular natural gas and water from underground sources. Therefore, the production of these products threatens the life and health of Ukrainian citizens both in the government-controlled and the occupied territories. The list of companies, for which sanctions are proposed, include: Letan Investments Limited (Cyprus), Titanaktiv LLC (Russia), Optimum Technologies Center (Russia), Okhna Holdings Limited (Cyprus), Khimkomsnab LLC (Russia) and Tolexis Enterprises AG (Switzerland). “The introduction of sanctions against all the involved legal entities will make economic relations with Ukraine impossible and will allow restricting or terminating economic relations with the EU countries,” the ministry said. (Interfax-Ukraine)
NATO chief, Lavrov to continue contacts
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he wants a more constructive relationship with Russia, even as the alliance is taking steps to respond to Moscow’s increasing assertiveness. Speaking after meeting Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov on September 25 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr. Stoltenberg said, “NATO and Russia have serious disagreements on a number of issues, which make our dialogue even more important.” He noted, “Today, we discussed military posture and exercises, including Russia´s recent exercise Vostok, as well as NATO’s upcoming exercise Trident Juncture.” The NATO chief said: “I also raised NATO’s concerns about Russia’s ongoing aggressive actions in Ukraine, and expressed NATO’s strong solidarity with the United Kingdom following the attack in Salisbury,” referring to the Novichok poisoning case in the English city of Salisbury that the West has blamed on Russia, and which Moscow has denied having anything to do with. “Minister Lavrov and I agreed to continue our contacts,” Mr. Stoltenberg concluded. In a statement before the talks, Mr. Stoltenberg also cited Russia’s support for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and the build-up of naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean as the main disagreements between the alliance and Moscow. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP)
Rights court order on cellphone data
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the Ukrainian government not to access any data from the cellphone 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 “Schemes” 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 had 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’s Ukrainian Service)
Ukrainian, Bosnian among kidnapped crew
Pirates off the coast of Nigeria have kidnapped 12 crew members of a Swiss vessel, including workers from the Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The crew members were abducted on September 22 from a vessel traveling between the cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said on September 23 that seven of those abducted were from the Philippines and one from each of the other five countries. The 12 workers were still missing. Kidnapping for ransom is a common problem in parts of Nigeria. A number of foreigners have been kidnapped in the last few years in the southern Niger Delta region, the source of most of the oil that is the mainstay of the West African state’s economy. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AFP)
Ukraine’s economy grows in Q2
Ukraine Business News reported on September 19, that Ukraine’s economy grew by 3.8 percent in the second quarter (Q2), as compared to the same period last year. According to information from the State Statistics Service, the new information updates its provisional estimate of 3.6 percent. For all of 2018, estimates range from the government’s 3.2 percent to the World Bank’s 3.5 percent. By contrast, the total economy of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of 36 largely high-income countries, is forecast to grow by 2.5 percent, Ukrainian Business News said. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
USAF to join aviation exercise in Ukraine
Stars and Stripes reported on September 18 that the U.S. Air Force and eight other nations will participate next month in independent Ukraine’s largest aviation exercise, which aims to promote regional security and improve that country’s cooperation with NATO members, the military said. Announcement of the Clear Sky multinational exercise comes days after Ukraine said it would establish a new naval base along the Sea of Azov to counter a more assertive Russia. Stars and Stripes reported: “The U.S. plans to send about 450 personnel from bases in the States and in Europe, a U.S. Air Forces in Europe spokesman said… About 250 will participate in the exercise, including pilots and maintainers; the remainder will be in support roles. Clear Sky is one of several joint and multinational exercises being conducted in Ukraine this year aimed at promoting regional security, defense officials said. …A total of some 950 personnel are slated to take part in Clear Sky. Besides Ukraine and the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom are participating.” The exercise will take place mainly at Starokostiantyniv Air Base, located about 150 miles southwest of Kyiv, and other venues in Ukraine. Training is to focus on air sovereignty, air interdiction, air-to-ground integration, air mobility operations, aeromedical evacuation, cyberdefense and personnel recovery. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)