June 27, 2014
Ukraine prepared to end a truce in its fight against separatist rebels today after President Petro Poroshenko signed a European Union accord that, rejected by his predecessor, was the spark that sent the country into crisis.
The week-long truce, which the authorities in Kiev say has been repeatedly flouted by the pro-Russian separatists, is scheduled to run out at 10 p.m. local time. As it winds down, Poroshenko signed a pact with the 28-member EU at a summit in Brussels today, while EU heads of government also prepared to discuss possible new sanctions against Russia.
Poroshenko said that by signing the deal, Ukraine is underlining “its sovereign choice in favor of future membership of the EU.” His government is also trying to bolster solidarity from richer nations to its west against what it calls aggression from Russia. It blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for supporting rebels and stoking violence that has killed hundreds of people in its eastern border regions.
“What a great day, maybe the most important day for my country after independence day,” Poroshenko said after signing the agreement in Brussels today. “The external aggression faced by Ukraine gives another strong reason for this crucial step. By signing this agreement, Ukraine makes an enormous commitment in terms of reform.”
Export Boost
The rejection of the accord by the man Poroshenko replaced, Viktor Yanukovych, triggered street protests in Kiev last November that ousted the pro-Russian government after hundreds of people died in clashes with police. Russia responded by annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and has expressed support for Russian speakers in southeastern Ukraine, who it says are under attack from their own government.
The agreement gives Ukraine’s businesses better access to the EU market, the world’s biggest trading bloc. The EU estimates a 1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) annual boost for Ukraine’s exports. In exchange, Ukraine pledges to use EU funds to meet EU product, safety, consumer and other standards. The deal doesn’t offer Ukraine the prospect of membership.
Putin, who is trying to establish a Eurasian trading bloc made up of former Soviet states to rival the EU, has said the agreement will damage Russia’s economy, which the EU and Ukraine deny. He has threatened economic penalties against the Kiev government for signing.
Sanctions Preparation
Peace talks this week between Ukrainian, Russian and EU officials along with the self-proclaimed separatist leaders in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions failed to produce a quick result.
Accusing Putin’s government of allowing weapons, manpower and other support to flow across its border into Ukraine, the U.S. is preparing sanctions against Russia on technology aimed at exploiting and producing oil and gas products, a major part of that country’s economy, according to three people briefed on the plans. EU countries have been preparing possible deeper penalties since March.
Progress in Ukraine “hasn’t been as apparent as I would have wished, considering the seven-day cease-fire,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Kortrijk, Belgium, yesterday before the summit started. The bloc’s leaders “will discuss how much further we want to go with sanctions,” depending on what they hear from the Ukrainian president.
Situation Volatile
Russia’s Micex stock index was little changed at 10:34 a.m. in Moscow after a two-day slide, while the ruble weakened 0.2 percent against its euro-dollar basket. Ukraine’s hryvnia lost half a percent against the dollar. It’s 31 percent weaker versus the greenback since the start of the year, the worst performance among global currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Ukraine Economy Minister Pavlo Sheremeta said yesterday the conflict may drag on even as peace talks continue. “We are not too optimistic,” he told a conference in Kiev.
Though the truce has been backed by Putin and separatist leaders, rebels fired at checkpoints set up by government forces 13 times in 24 hours, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
The militants also used mortars in an attack on Kramatorsk airport in the north of the Donetsk region, the ministry said, accusing them of using the truce to “relocate, reinforce their check-points and repair military vehicles.”
Five Ukrainian national guardsmen were wounded in an attack on their headquarters in Donetsk and rebels took their captain prisoner, the National Guard said on its website.
Monitors Released
Four monitors for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe who were abducted in Donetsk region in May were released yesterday after 32 days in captivity, the organization said on its website. A second team seized in Luhansk hasn’t been captured, the OSCE said.
Separatists are holding more than 200 hostages, including foreigners, and have killed 145 Ukrainian servicemen and wounded about 300 since the fighting started, the Interfax news service cited Poroshenko’s representative on eastern issues, Iryna Herashchenko, as saying yesterday. She said about 30,000 Ukrainians had fled the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea after its annexation by Russia in March.
In draft conclusions before the summit, the EU echoed comments from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling for the halt of weapons from Russia into eastern Ukraine, including armored vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons.
Putin Popularity
The U.S. will hold off on measures targeting Russian industries, according to 83 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey of 23 economists, compared with 66 percent last month. The EU will refrain from sanctions according to a record 96 percent, up from 84 percent in May. The survey was conducted June 20-25.
Amid the unrest, Putin’s popularity among Russians continued to rise to near its 2008 peak this month, Moscow-based polling company Levada Center said in a statement yesterday.
The Russian leader’s approval rating is 86 percent, up from 65 percent in January and compared with a highest-ever 88 percent. The number of those who disapprove of Putin’s actions in Ukraine fell to 13 percent from 16 percent, according to the June 20-23 poll of 1,600 people with a 3.4 percentage-point margin of error.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at kchoursina@bloomberg.net; James G. Neuger in Brussels at jneuger@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net; James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net Michael Winfrey, James M. Gomez
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1qNQPSe
0 comments:
Post a Comment