Kyiv officially declares Russia the enemy
KYIV – Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has approved a new military doctrine that declares Russia to be a military opponent and calls for the country to pursue NATO membership, the news media reported on September 3. There was no immediate official reaction from Russia, which denies claims that it has sent troops and equipment to separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east, and which opposes Ukraine joining NATO. The move came amid strong political tensions over President Petro Poroshenko’s efforts to get approval of a constitutional change that would devolve some powers to the regions, including the eastern regions held by the rebels. Opponents say the change would effectively be capitulation to Russia. It was unclear if the military doctrine’s stance against Russia could dilute opposition to the decentralization effort. The doctrine now goes to President Poroshenko for his signature. At the Security Council meeting, Mr. Poroshenko said the doctrine “not only officially establishes the Russian Federation as Ukraine’s military opponent, but states the task of relocating military units and creating the necessary military infrastructure in the eastern and southern regions.” He said Ukraine’s army must strive to achieve NATO standards to attain membership by 2020. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by the Associated Press and Interfax)
Countries seek release of Kohver, Sentsov
COPENHAGEN – Foreign affairs ministers from Nordic and Baltic countries have called for the immediate release of an Estonian security officer recently sentenced in Russia to 15 years in jail. Eston Kohver, an officer with the Estonian Internal Security Service, was sentenced on August 19 at a closed-door trial after being found guilty of espionage and illegally crossing the Russian border. Estonia vehemently denied the charges, saying Mr. Kohver was abducted in Estonia a year ago and dragged into Russia. Meeting in Copenhagen on September 3, the foreign affairs ministers said, “Kohver’s abduction and subsequent illegal detention in Russia constitute a clear violation of international law.” They also urged Russia to release Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov and his co-defendant Oleksandr Kolchenko, who were sentenced on August 25 to 20 years and 10 years in prison, respectively, on terrorism charges. The prosecution of Messrs. Sentsov and Kolchenko has been widely criticized as retaliation for their outspoken opposition to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Deutsche Presse-Agentur)
Bombing of Kyiv apartment block foiled
KYIV – Ukraine says it has detained four members of a “pro-Russian non-governmental organization” suspected of plotting to blow up a block of apartments in Kyiv. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on September 3 that the four men planned to blow up a building in the Obolon district. It said the group resisted arrest and threw a hand grenade at special forces as they were seized. One of the suspects was wounded in the leg as SBU agents fired back. The SBU said the group’s leader planned to flee after the planned attack to the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014. Kyiv has regularly accused Russia of attempting to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse and Interfax
Two parties will remain in coalition
KYIV – Two parties in Ukraine’s governing coalition say that they won’t abandon the grouping despite a major dispute over a proposal to give more power to Ukraine’s regions, including the rebel-held east. The two parties said their opposition to the proposal to change Ukraine’s Constitution remains firm, however, highlighting the steep battle President Petro Poroshenko faces to push it through Parliament. Oleg Berezyuk, head of the Samopomich faction, said the group will “remain in the coalition in the role of opposition within the parliamentary majority.” A member of Mr. Poroshenko’s faction, Igor Kononenko, said the faction of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would also remain in the coalition, the Interfax news agency reported. Lawmakers gave preliminary approval to the decentralization measure on August 31, with 265 votes in favor. That was well short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution in a final vote expected later this year. The vote prompted the Radical Party to withdraw from the governing coalition, raising concerns about whether other factions that oppose the constitutional change might follow suit. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by the Associated Press and Interfax)
EU warns Moscow over security, borders
BRUSSELS – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned Russia that the security and borders of European Union member states are “untouchable.” “I want this to be understood very clearly in Moscow,” Mr. Juncker told the European Parliament in his first State of the Union address on September 9. “The Baltics and Poland are very important members of the European Union, and they should not think that we would not be there if in any way if their security and their borders were in danger,” he added. The war in Ukraine has plunged Moscow’s ties with the West to lows unseen since the Cold War. Russian support for separatists in Ukraine, and its annexation of Crimea, have badly spooked Eastern European EU members such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which fear Moscow wants to reassert its Cold War-era control over them. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters)
Kyiv invites ICC to probe for war crimes
KYIV – Ukraine has accepted the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction to probe possible war crimes committed during Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in a letter accepted by the Hague-based ICC that the court can investigate for the “purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging perpetrators and accomplices of [criminal] acts committed” in Ukraine since February 20, 2014. But the ICC said in a statement that accepting the court’s jurisdiction “does not automatically trigger an investigation.” Kyiv had previously given the ICC the right to probe alleged crimes committed between November 2013 and February 2014, when pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted after mass protests. The expanded ICC probe could consider allegations by Ukraine and several Western governments of Russia’s direct involvement in the fighting in eastern Ukraine, something Moscow denies. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press)
Clinton urges tougher response to Russia
WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state who is now a leading contender to be the next president, has called for a stronger response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Syria, saying Moscow’s objectives were “to stymie, to confront, and to undermine American power whenever and wherever.” In thinly veiled criticism of President Barack Obama’s administration and its current approach to Russia, Ms. Clinton said that Washington should be doing more in response to Russia’s interference in Ukraine. “I have been, I remain convinced that we need a concerted effort to really up the costs on Russia and in particular on Putin. I think we have not done enough,” she said following a speech on September 9 at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “I am in the category of people who wanted us to do more in response to the annexation of Crimea and the continuing destabilization of Ukraine,” she noted. “We can’t dance around it anymore. We all wish it would go away,” she said. “We all wish Putin would choose to modernize his country and move toward the West instead of sinking himself into historical roots of tsar-like behavior, and intimidation along national borders and projecting Russian power in places like Syria and elsewhere.” The comments by Ms. Clinton, who served as President Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 until February 2013, bore similarities to sentiments being voiced with growing frequency by other candidates, particularly Republicans. Ms. Clinton faces several other Democrats also seeking the party’s nomination to be its candidate in the November 2016 election. None of the announced candidates has had as much experience shaping Russia policy as Ms. Clinton, who helped put Mr. Obama’s first term “reset” of relations with Moscow in place. She said some achievements were made while Dmitry Medvedev was in office as Russian president in 2008-2012, including the New START nuclear arms-control pact and enhanced cooperation on transit of U.S. arms and materiel to Afghanistan. But Ms. Clinton said Mr. Putin’s return to the Kremlin changed that. “I think Russia’s objectives are to stymie and to confront and undermine American power whenever and wherever they can. I don’t think there’s much to be surprised about them,” she said. “We have to do more to get back talking about how to we try to confine, contain, deter Russian aggression in Europe and beyond,” she said. “And try to figure out what are the best tools for doing that. And don’t lose sight of the Arctic because we’re going to have a lot of issues up there as well.” (RFE/RL)
Poroshenko awards 14 foreign activists
KYIV – On the occasion of the 24th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, President Petro Poroshenko awarded 14 foreign citizens for their contribution to strengthening the international authority of Ukraine, popularization of its historical heritage and modern achievements. The president awarded the Order of Freedom to President of the European Commission in 2004-2014 Jose Manuel Barroso; the Order “For Merits,” III degree, to Vice-President of the European Parliament Richard Charnetsky and four European MPs, as well as the chairman of the NGO Friendship Bridges to Ukraine (Germany) Karl Hermann Krog. Mr. Poroshenko also awarded the Order of Yaroslav the Wise, fifth degree, to the chairman of Northland Power Inc., James C. Temerty, and the Order of Princess Olha, third degree, to The Ukrainian Weekly Editor-in-Chief Roma Hadzewycz and Ukrainian Congress Committee of America President Tamara Olexy. The honorary title of People’s Artist of Ukraine was bestowed on soloist of the Taras Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater and artistic director of Kyiv State Choreographic School Nobuhiro Terada. The awards were announced in a presidential decree dated August 21. (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Not guilty plea in insider-trading case
NEWARK, N.J. – A man from Ukraine charged for his alleged role in a $100 million insider-trading scheme that employed a Ukraine-based hacking network has pleaded not guilty. Arkadiy Dubovoy, who spoke Russian and used an interpreter, appeared before a federal court in New Jersey on September 2. A November 4 trial date was set. Mr. Dubovoy’s son, Igor, is expected to enter a plea on related charges on September 14. He was unable to make a $3 million bond set last week. The Dubovoys were among 32 defendants, including traders and hackers, charged last month by U.S. authorities over an alleged scheme to steal sensitive information from corporate news releases and profit by trading on that information before it was publicized. The Dubovoys allegedly traded on information gleaned by hackers in Ukraine from their home near Atlanta, Georgia. Four of their co-defendants remain at large in Ukraine. Another trader, Morgan Stanley alumnus Vitaly Korchevsky, an émigré who was born in Kazakhstan and became a Baptist pastor in Pennsylvania, was ordered released on $2 million bond on August 26 after 80 parishioners vouched for him. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg News)
Separatist leader released by rebels
MOSCOW – Rebels in eastern Ukraine have released a separatist leader from detention after holding him captive for four days. Andrei Purgin told the Reuters news agency that he was freed by rebel gunmen on September 8 in the Donetsk region. He said he was kept in a cell at a “security ministry” since being taken at gunpoint on September 4 while travelling in a car after returning from Russia. Mr. Purgin – who was reportedly dismissed on September 4 as head of the self-declared parliament of the Donetsk People’s Republic – said he did not understand why he was detained. “I haven’t figured out what they wanted,” he said. Mr. Purgin has been a prominent representative of the rebels since fighting erupted in some parts of eastern Ukraine in April 2014. He was also involved in peace talks in Minsk involving France, Germany, and Russia. But Mr. Purgin was reportedly considered a hard-liner among the separatist leadership and opposed to some of the key points of the Minsk cease-fire agreement. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters)
Yatsenyuk warns against illegal elections
WARSAW – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, while visiting Warsaw warned that any attempt by Russia to hold illegal elections in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk territories “means a complete failure of Minsk agreements.” Meeting with the Prime Minister of Poland Ewa Kopacz, Mr. Yatsenyuk stated: “We …demand that the Minsk agreements be implemented – stop shooting and killing Ukrainians, withdraw Russian armies and renew control over the border. Then this crisis, which was created by Russia, and this military aggression will cease.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
Ukraine has “full support of IMF”
KYIV – International Monetary IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde visited Kyiv on September 6. She met with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and National Bank of Ukraine Governor Valeriya Hontareva. Ms. Lagarde stated, “I am extremely encouraged by the progress that has been achieved in the past few months. In a difficult environment, macroeconomic stabilization is taking hold and the economy shows signs of turning the corner. …Policies are on the right track and have started to yield results. The fiscal position is getting stronger, the foreign exchange market has stabilized, and the banking sector is being repaired so that banks are sounder and can start to provide credit again. The recent debt restructuring agreement is a vital complement to economic reforms and an essential step toward creating fiscal space, external sustainability and improved confidence. Significant reforms have been launched to bring energy prices to cost recovery levels, with due protection of vulnerable citizens. There has also been progress towards strengthening the social safety net and restoring the social contract in Ukraine. In addition, an independent and capable anti-corruption agency with broad powers has been launched and judicial reform has been initiated. It is crucial that efforts in this area continue. Significant challenges remain. It is essential to stay the course of reform and, indeed, deepen the effort. As Ukraine moves forward, it has the full support of the IMF.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
State Department on ‘destabilizing actions’
WASHINGTON – U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner stated on 3 September 3: “There would be no conflict in eastern Ukraine if Russia were not providing tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery, military personnel to the separatists. I think we all understand that. We’ve made that very clear over many months, including showing satellite imagery that shows Russian troops, command and control on the ground in eastern Ukraine. …we’ve seen continued destabilizing actions on the part of Russia in eastern Ukraine. We now have this ceasefire in place, but we remain concerned about further ceasefire activities.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
France proposes summit on Ukraine
PARIS – French President Francois Hollande has proposed a meeting of the leaders of Germany, Russia and Ukraine later this month as a ceasefire appeared to be largely holding in eastern Ukraine. Mr. Hollande told reporters on September 7 that the talks could take place in Paris before the United Nations’ General Assembly opens on September 28 “so that we can evaluate the [peace] process, where it’s at.” He noted, “There has been progress in the last few weeks. The cease-fire has almost been respected.” A truce agreement reached in Minsk in February has been regularly violated, but Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on September 5 that the deal had been observed for the first time for an entire week. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters)
Russians banned from broadcast companies
KYIV – Ukraine’s Parliament has passed a measure banning Russians from establishing or being involved in the business of television or radio stations in the country. The measure that passed on September 3 says no one involved in the broadcast business can be from a country regarded by Ukraine as an aggressor. The Ukrainian Parliament earlier this year declared Russia to be an aggressor state. Ukraine has already banned Russian television channels from its cable systems. The measure also calls for broadcast outlets to publish full information about their ownership structure on their websites and to provide this information to the national broadcasting council. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by the Associated Press and Interfax)
Moscow warns of trade embargo
MOSCOW – Russia has warned that there’s only a slim chance of averting a trade embargo against Ukraine when Kyiv’s free-trade pact with the European Union takes effect in January. Russian Economy Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev said he hasn’t entirely given up hope of reaching a deal that would satisfy Moscow’s objections to the trade pact and avert sanctions through three-way talks between Russia, the European Union and Ukraine. He said after a day of meetings in Brussels that the talks had been “positive” though “difficult,” and “there is a chance of [success], although I wouldn’t say it’s very great.” Mr. Ulyukayev said Russia was considering putting the same kind of sanctions on Ukraine that it has applied to the EU. Moscow has banned the import of food from the EU in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Mr. Ulyukayev said Russia expects it could minimize the damage to its own economy from such a food embargo to about 100 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) a year. Talks about a possible compromise are expected to continue in November. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters, TASS and Interfax)