Trump: Obama was soft on Moscow
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump has said on Twitter that “Crimea was taken by Russia” during the administration of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and added, “Was Obama too soft on Russia?” In a series of tweets on February 15 two days after he called for and accepted the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn amid questions over Mr. Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington in December, Mr. Trump also lashed out at the media. “The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred,” the president said on Twitter. “This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton’s losing campaign.” The tweets followed a February 14 report in The New York Times that quoted current and former U.S. officials as saying members of Trump’s campaign and other associates had contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the months before the November 2016 presidential election. “The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!” Mr. Trump tweeted. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed The New York Times report that said Trump associates had contacts with Russian intelligence officials ahead of the U.S. election, claiming it was “not based on any facts.” He said, “Let’s not believe anonymous information.” Mr. Trump had suggested during the election campaign that he would consider easing sanctions and possibly even recognizing Crimea as Russian, but members of his administration have said since his inauguration that Crimea belongs to Ukraine. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP, Reuters, Interfax, TASS, The New York Times and CNN)
Democrats push legislation on sanctions
WASHINGTON – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing forward with legislation to make sure Congress can block any effort President Donald Trump’s administration might make to lift sanctions on Russia. The House legislation, introduced on February 15, mirrors a measure put forth a week earlier by Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate. The Russia Sanctions Review Act would make it harder for the White House to lift the asset freezes, visa bans and other measures imposed during Barack Obama’s presidency. Those sanctions are aimed at punishing and pressuring Russia for its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and the Kremlin’s support for pro-Russia separatists who are battling Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine. Mr. Trump has signaled he wants better ties with Moscow. Revelations about conversations in 2016 between Mr. Trump’s aides and Russian officials have fueled concern in Congress that President Trump may try to lift the sanctions. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, insisted the measure had bipartisan support. However, there were no Republicans present at a February 15 news conference on the House bill (RFE/RL)
Bellingcat: Civilians are human shields
OTTAWA – On February 2, the investigative reporting group Bellingcat published a report confirming that in their attacks on Avdiyivka, Russian-terrorist forces are deliberately placing Grad rocket system in residential areas under their occupation. The report states: “The available evidence clearly documents that on 31 January 2017, multiple attacks with MLR systems were launched in proximity of the hypermarket Auchan in Donetsk. The location deep inside the so-called ‘DNR’ and the firing directing pointing toward Avdiyivka clearly document the responsible side for these particular attacks. One launch site is around 200 meters east of the hypermarket, and in fewer than 500 meters from a school and residential area. The second launch site is in proximity of the bypass and around 600 meters from an industrial area and 1,000 meters from a residential area. Some of the attacks occurred during the day while the nearby bypass was also used by civilians. Given the proximity of both launch sites to civilian infrastructure in the area, a potential Ukrainian counter attack to suppress and respond to the rocket fire would have automatically risked civilian lives in the area. The cross-country mobility of the likely used MLR system, BM-21 Grad, would have allowed alternative launch sites. However, the repeated usage of the launch site 200 meters east of the hypermarket Auchan strongly suggest that the selection of this area happened on purpose, deliberately risking the lives of the civilians in the area.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Poroshenko meets with Sushchenko family
OTTAWA – Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko met with the wife, son and daughter of Roman Sushchenko, the Paris-based correspondent of Ukraine’s Ukrinform news agency who was illegally detained in Moscow on September 30, 2016, on “espionage” charges. February 8 was Mr. Sushchenko’s birthday. President Poroshenko stated, “We’re doing everything we can to ensure that he is released as soon as possible from the ‘KGB dungeons,’ where he was completely unjustly imprisoned by the Russian authorities. …It is very difficult for him, he is suffering through terrible ordeals. But the way that he is carrying himself is an example for many.” A few days after Mr. Sushchenko’s detention, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “We consider this yet another step in the deliberate policy of the Russian Federation to use Ukrainian citizens as political hostages in Russia’s hybrid aggression against Ukraine.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Groysman: Economy is starting to recover
OTTAWA – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman stated on February 8 that statistics show Ukraine’s economy is growing, the unemployment rate is gradually decreasing and wages are rising. At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers that day, Mr. Groysman stated, “Today I want to assert: Ukraine’s economy is starting to recover. This is an extremely difficult process. We will see statistical data that as a result of economic stabilization, economic growth appears, there is a gradual decrease of unemployment in Ukraine and an increase in wages. I want to stress that this is only the beginning. … The economic upswing is the result of hard work of millions of Ukrainians. This is the joint work of all employees and all the people in our country.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Another step toward visa-free travel
BRUSSELS – The European Parliament has endorsed new rules governing the suspension of visa-free regimes with countries outside the European Union, a key step toward visa-free travel for Georgians and Ukrainians to the Schengen zone. European Union lawmakers approved the visa-suspension mechanism in December 2016, and an announcement of its final version was made on February 13 after the text was translated into all EU languages and vetted by legal experts. Under the new set of rules, visa-waiver agreements with third countries may be suspended faster in certain cases, such as an upsurge in baseless asylum applications or imminent security threats posed by third-country nationals. The measure paves the way for Georgia and Ukraine to be allowed visa-free travel to the Schengen Area within months. The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved visa liberalization for Georgia in a February 3 vote, and this will be implemented now that the new visa-suspension mechanism has been endorsed. Diplomats say visa liberalization for Georgia is expect to enter into force in late March. The approval of the suspension mechanism also clears the way for further steps on visa liberalization for Ukraine, which diplomats say is expected to enter into force in June. Georgia and Ukraine have long sought greater integration with Europe, largely as a bulwark against Russian influence, but have been frustrated in the past with the pace of EU moves to bring it closer. Russian forces drove deep into Georgia in a five-day war in 2008, and Moscow supports the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia seized control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and backs separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. The 26 Schengen Area countries are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak)
Belarusian officials reverse ban on Zhadan
MINSK – A Belarusian official says an order requiring Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan to leave the country and barring him from entry was rescinded after high-level officials intervened. Mr. Zhadan, an acclaimed novelist and poet who traveled to Minsk for a literary event, said on February 11 that he had been taken into custody by KGB officers who burst into his hotel room, kept in a cell overnight, and ordered to leave the country. However, the head of the migration department at the Belarusian Internal Affairs Ministry, Alyaksey Byahun, told RFE/RL on February 13 that Mr. Zhadan’s case had been studied and that a decision was made at “a very high level” to cancel the ban. Mr. Byahun said that the Internal Affairs Ministry informed Mr. Zhadan later on February 11 that the ban had been cancelled, and the writer returned to Ukraine on February 12. Mr. Zhadan said that, after he was detained, he was told he was not allowed to be in Belarus because neighboring Russia banned him in 2015 for alleged “involvement in terrorist activities” – an apparent reference to his support for the protests that drove a Moscow-friendly president from power in Ukraine in 2014. Belarus and Russia have close ties and share a visa regime. (RFE//RL’s Belarus Service)
Sanctions linked Minsk implementation
OTTAWA – Members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defense met with Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze on February 6 to discuss the situation in and around Avdiyivka. “The ceasefire continues to be violated by Russia and its proxies in eastern Ukraine,” Ms. Klympush-Tsintsadze stated. The European Parliament reported, “Security and defense MEPs were very concerned about the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine. A majority were convinced that Russia is ‘testing the ground’ against the backdrop of a new U.S. administration and called on Russia to implement the Minsk agreements. Members of the European Parliament also reiterated that EU sanctions are linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements and should therefore be maintained. Some MEPs called on the EU to be more proactive and to start discussing the possibility of deploying an EU Common Security and Defense Policy mission, as well as delivering on its promises to grant Ukrainian citizens visa-free access without further delays, since Ukraine has met all of 144 visa liberalization benchmarks. A majority of Security and Defense Committee MEPs also backed a call to debate the situation in eastern Ukraine at Parliament’s next plenary session in Strasbourg and to vote a resolution.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Juncker promises aid of 600 M euros
BRUSSELS – European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker says the European Union will give Ukraine 600 million euros ($640 million U.S.) to bolster government finances. Mr. Juncker, speaking on February 10 after talks with Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, said the country had pressed ahead with reforms despite difficult conditions and that the EU should now make good on its aid pledges. “We have a strategic partnership with Ukraine and our future relations will develop along these lines,” he told reporters after the meeting. Mr. Groysman said it was very important to send a strong signal to Ukrainians that ties with the EU were “a positive result and would improve their lives.” The EU and Ukraine have signed an Association Agreement and a free-trade deal to bolster Ukraine’s struggling economy, with Brussels offering 3.4 billion euros in loans to help Kyiv balance public spending. The EU has so far handed over 2.2 billion euros, with disbursements tied to progress on political and economic reforms. Western governments and analysts say that swifter, more thorough reforms would reduce the influence of Russia, which seized the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and backs separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,750 people since April 2014. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and kyivpost.com)
Trump thanks Lithuania for support
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a letter to the president of Lithuania, which has often backed Ukraine in its disputes with Russia. Mr. Trump made the remarks in a letter to President Dalia Grybauskaite that was dated February 8 and posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania. He congratulated Lithuania and its people on the 99th anniversary of the country’s independence (February 16, 1918) and praised Lithuania’s “support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as your efforts to increase energy diversification [and] advance our shared goal to enhance European and regional security.” He added, “The United States is proud to call Lithuania a friend and Ally. I look forward to working with you to advance our shared goals.” Lithuania and fellow Baltic states Latvia and Estonia have felt vulnerable since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its backing of separatists in fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 9,750 people since April 2014. Mr. Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his expressed desire for warmer relations with Moscow have added to the Baltic states’ concerns. On February 9, President Grybauskaite said the Baltic states will seek additional security measures from the United States and NATO ahead of a large annual Russian military exercise, called Zapad (West), that is due to be held in September. In a move ordered by the Obama administration in 2014 to show support for U.S. allies, about 3,500 U.S. soldiers have been sent to eastern NATO members as part of a NATO deployment. In his letter, President Trump also praised Lithuania’s efforts to increase defense spending “to achieve NATO’s agreed benchmark.” Mr. Trump has spoken often of the need for NATO members to contribute more financially to the alliance, raising concerns by some countries about the level of his commitment to common security needs. (RFE/RL, U.S. Embassy Vilnius)
CUFTA roundtable held in Kyiv
OTTAWA – A roundtable on the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) was held on February 6 in Kyiv. First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv, Chair of Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Hannah Hopko, Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian MPs, business leaders and experts were among those who took part. Mr. Kubiv stated that he expects that Ukraine’s Parliament will ratify the agreement this month. “This is the first agreement with a North American country, whose market is so large. This document will lead to deepening trade and economic cooperation, new markets for domestic producers and increased access to added value chains,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reported. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Former lawmaker lambasts Russia
KYIV – Former Russian State Duma Deputy Denis Voronenkov, who defected to Ukraine last year, has called Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region “a mistake.” In an interview with the Ukraine-based Censor.net online news portal, Mr. Voronenkov compared the present-day Russia with Nazi Germany – saying that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) controls everything in the country, including the State Duma. Mr. Voronenkov also said he had testified against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled by violent pro-European protests in Kyiv in February 2014. “Yanukovych is a puppet. He resigned himself and his request [for the Kremlin] to send Russian troops [to Ukraine] was unlawful,” Mr. Voronenkov said. Russia has gone “crazy on its pseudo-patriotic madness,” he said. “Crimea has united Russia around the idea to steal something from a neighbor.” Mr. Voronenkov and his wife, Maria Maksakova, who is also a former Russian lawmaker, left Russia for Ukraine in October 2016 after the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office refused to launch a probe against his alleged involvement in an illegal property seizure in Moscow. The probe was recommended by the federal Investigative Committee. Mr. Voronenkov says he obtained Ukrainian citizenship in December. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Censor.net)
Separatist commander’s funeral is held
DONETSK, Ukraine – A large crowd turned out for the funeral of an assassinated separatist commander in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Mikhail Tolstykh, 36, whose nom de guerre was Givi, died in an explosion in his office in the separatist-held regional capital on February 8. Mr. Tolstykh’s body was laid out in the Donetsk opera house on February 10 with the flag of his fighting force, known as the Somali Battalion, covering his closed coffin. Western media reports said some 2,000 people – most of them pensioners and separatist fighters – lined up outside to pay last respects. Many carried flowers and orange-and-black ribbons expressing their support for Russia. Donetsk separatist leaders have said the killing was a “terrorist” attack organized by the Ukrainian intelligence services. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) denied responsibility, instead suspecting an internal operation planned by Russia or the separatists. Mr. Tolstykh became known during the brutal battle for Donetsk airport. Video footage from 2015 shows him verbally and physically abusing Ukrainian servicemen captured during the battle. Another separatist commander – Arseny Pavlov, known as Motorola – was killed when a bomb exploded in an elevator in his apartment block in Donetsk in October 2016. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and AP)
UCCA praises Haley’s statement
NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America issued a statement commending U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley for her February 2 address before the United Nations Security Council in which she pointed to “the dire situation in eastern Ukraine” and emphasized that “Crimea is a part of Ukraine.” The UCCA noted: “Ambassador Haley has quickly demonstrated her commitment to safeguard crucial and vital international principles, in the face of an unrelenting and aggressive Russian Federation which seeks to undermine Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and independence.” Over the course of the past three years, Russia’s war on Ukraine has taken over 10,000 lives and displaced over 2 million civilians (the largest wartime displacement in Europe since World War II), the UCCA statement read. Russia also bears the responsibility for downing a commercial airliner over Ukraine, killing 298 innocent men, women and children, the UCCA added. Reacting to statements made from the White House subsequent to Ambassador Haley’s appearance, the UCCA stressed that “there is no moral equivalence between Russia’s state sponsorship of terrorism and America’s defense of liberty.” The UCCA continues to advocate for maintaining and strengthening U.S. and European Union sanctions against Russia and those companies that support Russia’s illegal actions in Ukraine. (UCCA)