Canada condemns illegitimate elections
Canada’s Department of Global Affairs on November 13 condemned the elections held in the occupied Donbas region of Ukraine. The Canadian government’s statement read: “Canada joins its European allies and the United States in unreservedly rejecting the illegitimate and illegal November 11, 2018, elections in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. These ‘elections’ are an attempt to validate the rule of Moscow-imposed Russian proxies. In the absence of a recognized legal basis or any credible international monitoring, the international community will not recognize these ‘elections.’ Canadians continue to stand steadfastly with the people of Ukraine.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Ukraine, U.S. to restore commission’s work
President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine said that within the framework of the Paris Peace Forum, about 40 meetings with world leaders took place. Speaking with media representatives on November 11, Mr. Poroshenko spoke about his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. “Yesterday, the meeting with the president of the United States of America was held. As a result of this discussion, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and his American counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met today,” Mr. Poroshenko said. The president said that the result of these meetings was an agreement to hold the Ukraine-U.S. Strategic Partnership Commission at the level of foreign affairs ministers of the two countries in Washington on November 16. He noted that the commission was founded almost 10 years ago. “Today we agreed to restore its work as a symbol of the fact that the partnership between Ukraine and the United States of America is strategic in nature,” Mr. Poroshenko said. He also reported that a meeting of diplomatic advisor to the president of Ukraine Kostiantyn Yelisieiev with U.S. president’s national security advisor, John Bolton, took place in Paris. (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Perry: Russia uses of energy as weapon
Russia has historically used energy as a weapon and that continues today, making energy diversification crucial for Central and Eastern Europe, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said. “We should no longer allow the Kremlin to use energy as a weapon,” Mr. Perry told a news conference in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, on November 13. Mr. Perry was speaking during a visit to the region as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to encourage the purchase of gas from the United States or other suppliers rather than increasing purchases from Russia. He called on Hungary and its neighbors to reject Russian gas pipelines, which Washington says are being used to cement Moscow’s grip on the region. “Russia is using a pipeline project, Nord Stream 2, and the multiline Turkish stream [TurkStream project], to try to solidify its control over the security and the stability of Central and Eastern Europe,” Mr. Perry said. “The United States strongly opposes these projects, and we urge Hungary and its neighbors to join us in rejecting them.” Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto said Turkish stream, a pipeline under construction from Russia to Turkey, was beneficial to Hungary, since one of its branches would bring gas to Hungary’s southern border via a new route. Hungary depends heavily on Russia for its natural-gas supplies, which now mostly transit via Ukraine. Russia is also building a nuclear plant in Hungary. Budapest would be willing to buy gas from Croatia, which is building a liquefied-gas terminal, and from Romania, Mr. Szijjarto said. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters)
Strategic energy dialogue is launched
President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine met on November 12 with U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, who was visiting Kyiv. The Head of State emphasized the importance of cooperation with the United States in the field of energy for strengthening Ukraine’s energy security. During the meeting, the launch of the Ukrainian-American strategic energy dialogue, which would facilitate closer cooperation between the involved government agencies and companies, was announced. The president noted the successful implementation of a number of joint Ukrainian-American projects in the nuclear energy sector, as well as the supply of American coal to Ukraine. Mr. Poroshenko also confirmed interest in attracting modern American technologies and best practices to Ukraine for the effective development of existing oil and gas reserves. The parties noted the necessity of further counteraction to the Nord Stream 2 project, as well as diversification of sources of energy supply, in particular by expanding the possibilities for the supply of liquefied natural gas from the United States. (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Poroshenko refuses to sack Lutsenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has formally refused to accept the resignation of the country’s prosecutor-general, who has been criticized for the handling of a probe into the death of an anti-corruption activist in an acid attack. Calls for Yuriy Lutsenko to step down intensified after Kateryna Handzyuk died on November 4, three months after she was injured in an acid attack. Mr. Lutsenko on November 7 formally submitted his resignation to the president, a day after the Verkhovna Rada – namely, the president’s bloc – refused to back the move. In a statement on November 9, Ukraine’s presidential press service cited the Parliament’s “vote of confidence” in Mr. Lutsenko as the reason why Mr. Poroshenko had refused to accept his resignation, adding “important tasks are ahead” of Mr. Lutsenko, a presidential appointee. The announcement by the president’s office comes just hours after a top European Union official said in Kyiv that the international community was “deeply shocked” by the death of Mr. Handzyuk. “It’s something we cannot accept,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told a press conference in the Ukrainian capital on November 9. He urged the Ukrainian government to identify and punish those behind the attack, saying “The international community pays attention.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Pravda.ua)
EU: Don’t backpedal on reforms
The EU commissioner in charge of enlargement has urged Ukraine to move forward on reforms, warning against any retreat from such efforts, especially on fighting corruption. Johannes Hahn made the remarks in Kyiv on November 9. He was in the Ukrainian capital to deliver a fresh EU report on Ukraine to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman. Mr. Hahn said it’s “crucial to maintain the reform momentum and to make these changes irreversible” in the run-up to March’s presidential vote and the parliamentary elections in late 2019. Mr. Hahn stressed that “there can’t be rollback on issues such as anti-corruption efforts.” In the report, the EU noted there have been only a few convictions in high-level corruption cases in the country. However, it said Ukraine has taken steps to reform its judiciary system. The EU emphasized that the establishment of a dedicated anti-corruption court is crucial and that Ukraine’s authorities must properly investigate attacks against civil society activists and punish the perpetrators. The fresh warning comes days after a prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption activist died on November 4, three months after she was injured in an acid attack. The death of Kateryna Handzyuk sparked outrage in Ukraine and elsewhere. Several dozen local NGOs signed a letter earlier this week criticizing the “apparent failure” of Ukraine’s law enforcement system to investigate attacks on civil society activists. They also called on Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov and Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko to resign amid charges they have blocked the investigation. Five suspects, including a police officer, have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack, but authorities have not described a specific potential motive for the attack. On October 3, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and Frontline Defenders said more than 50 attacks on activists and human rights defenders in Ukraine had been recorded by local human rights organizations in the last nine months. (RFE/RL)
Russia-installed mayor is removed
The Russia-installed mayor of the capital of the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea has resigned at the request of the head of the region’s Russian administration. Symferopol municipal head Igor Lukashyov and his seven deputies stepped down on November 9, according to a press release from the office of the head of the Russian administration of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov. Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and installed its own administration there, even though the takeover has been rejected by most of the international community. Mr. Aksyonov said a new administration would be named next week. Late last month, Mr. Aksyonov promised the shake-up, saying that the Symferopol authorities had overseen the “collapse” of city transport and waste management. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Trump blames Obama for loss of Crimea
U.S. President Donald Trump blamed the “regime” of former President Barack Obama for Ukraine’s loss of its Crimean peninsula, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014. Mr. Trump made the comments during a wide-ranging and sometimes hostile news conference at the White House on November 7 to comment on the U.S. midterm election results. When asked about his relations with Russia, Mr. Trump reminded reporters of the face-to-face meeting he had with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July. “The fact is I had a very, very good meeting with President Putin,” he said. “A lot was discussed – about Syria, about security, about Ukraine.” He added, “About the fact that President Obama allowed a very large part of Ukraine to be taken [by Russia].” When a reporter stated that “it was President Putin who annexed Crimea,” Mr. Trump responded by saying, “That was President Obama’s regime. That was during President Obama. Right? It was President Obama that allowed it to happen.” U.S. and other Western countries criticized Moscow and imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2013 and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014. During the two leaders’ last meeting in Helsinki, Mr. Trump was widely criticized, by Democrats and Republicans alike, for not taking a harder line with Mr. Putin and for refusing to press him on several matters, including Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election. At the White House news conference, Mr. Trump reiterated that he had no meetings scheduled with Mr. Putin at the November 11 commemoration ceremonies in Paris marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. He also repeated that he will likely meet the Russian leader during a Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this month. In Moscow, the Kremlin said Russian and U.S. officials agreed not to hold a summit in Paris to avoid causing a distraction during the World War I centenary commemorations. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP)
New U.S. sanctions over activities in Crimea
The United States announced it was imposing a new round of financial sanctions related to Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine, focusing on individuals and companies doing business in Russian-annexed Crimea. Sigal Mandelker, a U.S. Treasury undersecretary, said on November 8 that the United States “remains committed to targeting Russian-backed entities that seek to profit from Russia’s illegal annexation and occupation” of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the sanctions were “doomed to fail” and that Moscow “won’t take them into account.” U.S. and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Treasury said it was now targeting three individuals and nine entities that are supporting Moscow’s attempt to “reintegrate” Crimea into Russia through private investment and privatization projects or are engaging in “serious human rights abuses in furtherance of Russia’s occupation or control over parts of Ukraine.” It identified the sanctioned individuals are Andriy Volodymyrovych Sushko, Aleksandr Basov and Vladimir Nikolaevich Zaritsky. Mr. Sushko, an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), is suspected of having participated in the 2017 abduction and torture of a Crimean Tatar activist who opposed Russia’s occupation of the region, according to the Treasury. Mr. Zaritsky is the former commander-in-chief of Russia’s missile and artillery forces who is leading a hotel project in Symferopol, it also said. The entities are the “Ministry of State Security of so-called Luhansk People’s Republic”; and companies Mriya Resort and Spa; Garant-SV; Infrastructure Projects Management; Sanatorium AY-Petri; Dyulber; Sanatorium Miskhor; KRIMTETS; and Southern Project. The Treasury Department described Mriya Resort and Spa as a luxury hotel that opened in the resort of Yalta shortly after the annexation and “the main Russian platform for showcasing investment opportunities in Crimea.” The Treasury said all of the individuals’ and entities’ property and interests in property subject to the U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen, and U.S. persons and entities will generally be prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. The moves reinforce the “Crimea Declaration of July 25, 2018, stating that the United Sates does not and will not recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea,” it added. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Interfax)
Usyk defends cruiserweight titles
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, the world cruiserweight champion, defended his four titles by knocking out Britain’s Tony Bellew in the eighth round. The 31-year-old Mr. Usyk sent his opponent to the mat with a combination culminating with a looping left in Manchester on November 10. It was Mr. Usyk’s 16th consecutive victory as a professional and could lead to him stepping up to the heavyweight classification. He holds the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO cruiserweight titles. The 35-year-old Mr. Bellew had said this would be his last fight. “Oleksandr Usyk is an exceptional champion,” Mr. Bellew said. “Anyone who faces him is in trouble. Only the very best and very biggest will beat him.” (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and the BBC)