Crisis in Oekra�ne #100 De bevrijding van Oost-Oekraine

Ukraine's ambassador to China: Ukraine's free trade with EU, Russia hindered only by politics

KYIV, July 2 /Ukrinform/.

There is no contradiction in the existence of free trade areas between the EU and Ukraine, as well as between Ukraine and the CIS (including Russia), unless a political factor is added to this matter.
Ukraine's Ambassador to China Oleh Diomin said this in an exclusive interview with the Chinese online newspaper People's Daily:

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The two documents - the agreement on free trade area in the CIS and the Association Agreement with the EU - can coexist and operate freely, unless a political component is brought into them

The ambassador shares the same opinion about balancing economic relations between Ukraine and Europe, as well as between Ukraine and Russia.

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Nothing should hinder these relations, except for politics. There are no objective and natural causes for contradictions, there is only the possibility of human factor.

He added that Ukraine will not have to open any new ways, because today the country delivers to Europe more goods than to Russia or other countries. Ukraine will continue to export products for agricultural purposes, mechanical engineering, provide transportation services. However, we plan to develop other areas.

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As for the aviation, aerospace, shipbuilding - they are still not open to Europe, but with the possibility of attracting European or global investment into these sectors and to use appropriate standards, we will be able to supply these products to Europe and other countries.

Diomin also believes that the signing of the Association Agreement is in the interests not only of Ukraine or Europe.

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Coming to Europe, we, by and large, enter the world, so our relationship with other countries will benefit from this. The signing of the economic part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine is a very important first step, without which it is impossible to talk about membership in the European Union. Most importantly we need to build standards and norms in the country that would meet European requirements. This move will enable Ukraine to modernize the economy, attract foreign investment through the introduction of European standards, become a full-fledged gateway to Europe for all countries.

Terrorists mortar Novoazovsk checkpoint, kill Ukrainian border guard

KYIV, July 2 /Ukrinform/.

On Tuesday terrorists fired mortars on Novoazovsk checkpoint on the border with Russia, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) reported.

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During the attack the bandits fired about 20 mortars and, according to preliminary reports, fired from the village of Markino. The checkpoint suspended its work and the border guards prepared to defend.

The militants also fired a border squad at the checkpoint. The attackers killed one border guard and wounded eight.

Terrorists accuse Hromadske TV journalists of espionage

KYIV, July 2 /Ukrinform/.

Terrorists from the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR) say they detained Hromadske TV journalists Anastasia Stanko and cameraman Ilia Bezkorovainy as "they were spying for the Ukrainian army", the press office of LPR head Valeriy Bolotov reported.

Stanko in a phone call confirmed that together with cameraman Ilia Bezkorovainy they are in one of the houses in Luhansk. The militants hold them in a basement. The journalist said that they are all right, violence has not been used against them.

According to her, LPR representatives do not exclude the possibility of exchanging them for other prisoners. Furthermore, Stanko said their mobile phones have been taken away from them.

Poroshenko, Bildt discuss situation in Donbas

KYIV, July 1 /Ukrinform/.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt have discussed the situation in the Donbas and further steps to implement the president's peace plan, the presidential press service has reported.

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The Swedish foreign minister accepted with understanding the head of state's decision to end the ceasefire in the Donbas.

According to the press service, Bildt backed Poroshenko's readiness to return to the non-use of force under conditions reflected in the European Council (EC) resolution of June 27, namely the bilateral ceasefire and introduction of reliable control on the Ukrainian-Russian border under the OSCE monitoring, the release of all hostages without exception, and the readiness to start political talks to implement the peace plan. The parties noted that the EC resolution on the peace plan had not been implemented, so President Poroshenko had urged the EU to act more decisively.

Contact group on eastern Ukraine could meet in Minsk - Herashchenko

KYIV, July 1 /Ukrinform/.

UDAR Party MP Iryna Herashchenko, the president's representative for the peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said to the UDAR press service:

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The president has currently switched to Plan B, which is supported by military and civilians. Our military will bet to neutralize the terrorists, but all military operations will be conducted so as to save the lives of civilians. It has been decided to resume the work of the trilateral contact group, and it's not ruled out that its next meeting will be held in Minsk.

UN chief saddened by disruption of truce in eastern Ukraine

KYIV, July 2 /Ukrinform/.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has deplored the resumption of fire in eastern Ukraine, his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric has said, according to BBC Ukrainian.

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The secretary-general is following with grave concern reports of renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine and is extremely disappointed that the unilateral ceasefire declared by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko never achieved the momentum needed to end the violence.

Ban again urged all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to achieve a real ceasefire. The UN leader

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strongly condemns the persistent unlawful violence at the hands of armed militia groups

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Putin vows to protect ethnic Russians abroad after Ukraine truce expires

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, after Kiev renewed military operations against pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, that Moscow would continue to defend the interests of ethnic Russians abroad.

Putin accuses Ukrainian leader of shunning road to peace

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he and European Union states had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Kiev to extend a ceasefire in east Ukraine, and the Ukrainian president had veered off the road to peace. Putin told Russian ambassadors gathered in Moscow:

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Unfortunately President Poroshenko took the decision to restart military operations and we – I mean myself and my European colleagues – could not convince him that the road to stable, strong and long-lasting peace does not lie through war.

Up until now (Poroshenko) was not directly linked to the order to start military operations but now he has taken on this responsibility fully, not only militarily but also politically.

Although he did not mention the United States directly, Putin warned against

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meddling in the affairs of sovereign states, blackmail and threats in international relations.

We need some kind of insurance net around all of Europe so that the Iraqi, Libyan, Syrian - and unfortunately we have to mention the Ukrainian - scenarios do not become a contagious disease.

Ukraine forces attack rebel positions, Putin growls

[...]

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Washington supported Poroshenko's move:

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It takes two to keep a ceasefire. President Poroshenko put in place a seven-day ceasefire; he abided by it, but the fact remains that the separatists, many of them weren't adhering to it, and he has a right to defend his country.

She said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken on Monday to Poroshenko, who had said he was still committed to a peace plan.

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So the ultimate goal here is to get back to a ceasefire, to get back to a peace plan, but it takes two parties to put that in place and to keep it in place.

Before Putin spoke, the Russian foreign ministry hinted that the United States was behind Poroshenko's decision.

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There is an impression that the change in Kiev's position ... could not have come about without influence from abroad, despite the position of leading EU member states.

Poroshenko said:

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The unique chance to implement the peace plan was not realized. It happened because of the criminal actions of the militants. They publicly declared their unwillingness to support the peace plan as a whole and in particular the ceasefire.

Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkovsky said:

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After the president's (Poroshenko's) speech, the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) went into action. We opened artillery fire, carried out air strikes at the strategic points of the terrorists and places where they are concentrated.

Rebels had fired on a SU-25 attack aircraft, damaging it, but the plane had managed to land safely at its air base.

One Ukrainian serviceman had been killed and 17 wounded in the past 24 hours in rebel attacks on Ukrainian posts.

Poroshenko expressed willingness to return to a ceasefire if it became clear all sides were ready to carry out all aspects of the peace plan, including the freeing of hostages and creating effective border controls.

Berlin won't flinch from Russia sanctions if needed: Schaeuble

(Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday his country would not hesitate to back economic sanctions against Russia, despite the impact on the German economy, if it continues to break international law in Ukraine. Schaeuble told foreign correspondents that sanctions would probably harm German business interests, but added:

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That will not prevent us from doing what we have to do.

Kiev, separatists fret at gun law in Ukraine's rebel regions

(Reuters) - Firearms stores in the separatist-held city of Donetsk in east Ukraine stand empty, the guns that once lined the shelves now sold out or stolen at gunpoint.

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In a time of war, everyone wants a weapon. There are just none left to sell or even give away

said manager Alexander Lutsevich in the wood-paneled office of his downtown store.

Moscow court arrests in absentia Dnipropetrovsk region governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi

MOSCOW, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/.

Basmanny district court of Moscow has arrested in absentia the Governor of east-central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Region Ihor Kolomoyskyi on Wednesday. The court has satisfied a request from detectives to this effect.

Russian law enforcement agencies accuse Kolomoyskyi of masterminding murders and use of banned ways and methods of warfare. He was put on international wanted list on June 21.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has filed similar criminal proceedings against parliament-appointed Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov. June 21, Kolomoyskyi and Avakov were put on international wanted list.

It is expected that Moscow’s Basmanny district court will review the investigation’s petition on Avakov’s arrest in absentia.

Kolomoyskyi, according to open sources, is one of the richest Ukrainian citizens, founder of the Privat financial and industrial group. Upon the decision of the Verkhovna Rada Kolomoyskyi was appointed Governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. In this office, he declared an active fight against the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and proposed to form at his expense military units for a raid against them.

Ukrainian refugee flow prompts emergency regime in Russia’s Volgograd Region

VOLGOGRAD, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/.

The authorities of the southern Russian Volgograd Region have introduced an emergency situation regime due to a high number of refugees from the embattled southeastern regions of Ukraine.

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Governor Andrey Bocharov signed a resolution to introduce this regime from tonight

gubernatorial spokeswoman Yekaterina Golod told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The Volgograd Region hosts some 5,000 refugees from Ukraine’s Southeast. The emergency situation regime will make it possible for relevant local agencies to work more effectively in conditions of an increased flow of temporary migrants and promptly provide all required assistance to them, Golod said.

The work includes efforts to ensure law and order, observance of sanitary requirements, as well as prompt registration of refugees.

Temporary accommodation centers for refugees operate in the cities of Volgograd, Volzhsky, Kamyshin, the Surovikino and Gorodishche districts. A total of 548 people reside in them. Others stay at their relatives and friends’. A total of 921 residents of Ukraine have asked social protection bodies for assistance.

Additional sites for accommodation of refugees have been organized in Volzhsky - an Emergencies Ministry tent camp and a temporary center at a local school. These facilities may host over 1,300 people and will be used should the flow of refugees increase.

Ukrainians continue fleeing the war-torn Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine where the Ukrainian military, units of the “national guard” and the Right Sector ultranationalist movement have been conducting a punitive operation since mid-April against residents demanding federalization of the country and greater rights for Russian language speakers.

Russian Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev said Monday that the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Russia from the embattled Southeast of Ukraine may reach 300,000 by the end of this year.

President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives on Tuesday:
Of course, everything that is going on in Ukraine is an internal affair of the Ukrainian state. It pains us to see people dying, especially civilians. As you may know, the number of refugees in the Russian Federation is growing. We will of course provide assistance to all those who need it.

Kyiv Post

Electricity distributor reports power outage in Sloviansk, Kramatorsk

The hostilities have fully cut power supply to Sloviansk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and power supply to healthcare facilities has been disrupted in Kramatorsk, the Donetskoblenergo electricity distribution company said.

European Council postpones for a week assessment of fulfilment by Russia of four conditions set at EU summit

Brussels - The European Union has postponed for a week a decision on possible new sanctions against Russia in connection with the Ukrainian crisis, the European External Action Service (EEAS) has told Interfax.

Moscow wants idea of OSCE monitors at Ukrainian border checkpoints be reviewed with ceasefire termination

Moscow -- The proposal on deploying OSCE monitors at checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border should be discussed again after the ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine was terminated, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.

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