Politics

The following open letter was signed by 40 foreign-policy experts and current and former officials whose names and affiliations appear below. We read with considerable interest the recent open letter published in Politico Magazine by 103 signatories who called for a “rethinking” of U.S. policy toward Russia. The U.S. presidential campaign is a good time to rethink America’s foreign policy, and in doing so, the United States reminds other countries of the importance of open, inclusive debate. All of the letter’s signatories are people of distinction; many of them are personal friends. But we believe that this debate will be deficient if it does not incorporate the perspective of U.S. allies in Central and East-Central Europe. We read the rebuke to the letter that POLITICO published, authored by David J. Kramer and signed by 32 others. While we share many of their concerns, we also feel compelled to present our own perspective...

For centuries, Ukraine’s long struggle for statehood has been mirrored by the often troubled fate of the Ukrainian language. Oppressed and marginalized throughout the Czarist and Soviet eras, Ukrainian finally shed its second-class status in 1991 to become the official state language of newly independent Ukraine. However, the story did not end there. Despite the upgrade of Ukrainian following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the language has continued to play second fiddle to Russian throughout much of the country and in many aspects of everyday life. Ever since the 1990s, efforts to regulate and promote the use of Ukrainian in place of Russian have proved politically explosive and have come to symbolize independent Ukraine’s post-Soviet identity crisis. Meanwhile, the national debate on the language issue has reflected lingering divisions within Ukrainian society over attitudes towards the dominant role played by Russia in the country’s past...

The meeting of political advisers to Normandy Four leaders in Berlin was good and substantive, the head of state believes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to Russia's demands that draft amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on special status of occupied Donbas be presented by July 6 within the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas settlement, saying that no one has the right to demand any action by Ukraine...

National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Yakiv Smolii submitted his resignation on July 1 in what was widely seen as a major blow to Ukraine’s reform agenda. In his resignation letter, Smolii cited “systematic political pressure” as the reason behind his departure. The nature of Smolii’s exit raises serious questions over the continued independence of the NBU, which has been credited as a key factor behind Ukraine’s macroeconomic stabilization in recent years. Smolii, who had been at the helm of the NBU since 2017, enjoyed a strong reputation in business and financial circles for his role in taming inflation and ensuring currency stability...

Political prosecutions continue in Ukraine. There is growing evidence of dozens of high-profile criminal proceedings against opposition politicians and public activists. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigations have significantly intensified their actions in this regard. Suspects’ defense attorneys have documented the bias of government investigators and systematic procedural violations. Odessa activist Serhiy Sternenko has been the target of numerous (physical) attacks and threats from local Russian-controlled criminals. He repeatedly reported the incidents to law enforcement officials. When assailants assaulted Serhiy, and while defending himself, he fatally wounded one of the attackers...

On 26 May, the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR, Derzhavne Buro Rozsliduvan) accused former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko of illegally smuggling a collection of 43 paintings and not paying customs and called him in for interrogation. Poroshenko failed to show up, citing a lack of proper notification. Instead, he opened a public exhibition of his private collection of allegedly smuggled paintings, providing an original customs declaration for each painting in an attempt to demonstrate the absurdity of the DBR claims. The collection is worth $4.5 million and includes paintings by Russian, Ukrainian, and Ukraine-related painters such as Ilya Glazunov, Ilya Repin, Kazymyr Malevich, Ivan Aivazovsky and others. The DBR came to the exhibition as well: they broke into the museum, expropriated all of the customs declarations, and blocked entry to the museum, including for the museum’s director, over several hours. The law enforcers also claimed that the paintings were purchased for UAH 180 million ($6 million) by Poroshenko from a related offshore company Vernon Holding Ltd. Poroshenko allegedly wanted to withdraw capital abroad...

We support the Appeal by the Participants of the Revolution of Dignity issued on May 6, 2020 in Kyiv and attached herewith. The Appeal depicts a rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine, brought on by Russia’s war and the military occupation of Crimea and areas of the Donbas, and hybrid aggression throughout the country. What is more, policies of the new Ukrainian government, led by President Zelensky, have brought the country to the brink of crisis and economic collapse, having failed to achieve an agreement with the IMF. The Appeal states that the authorities have resorted to the persecution of war veterans and civic advocates. Community advocates who also were active during the Maidan Revolution of Dignity are subject to...

A Russian military plane carrying the ventilators along with other medical supplies including personal protective equipment landed in New York on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone. Russian state television footage of the plane’s unloading showed boxes of “Aventa-M” ventilators, which are produced by the Ural Instrument Engineering Plant (UPZ) in the city of Chelyabinsk, 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Moscow, RBC reported. UPZ is part of a holding company called Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET), which itself is a unit of Russian state conglomerate Rostec. KRET has been under U.S. sanctions since...

On April 7, 2020 the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Andrii Taran held a telephone conversation with the Minister of National Defence of Canada Harjit Sajjan. The main topic of the dialogue was the discussion of the security situation around Ukraine and in the world under the current epidemiological situation in the armed forces of both countries. The Canadian Defence Minister reiterated the continued unconditional support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as willingness of the Canadian Defence Ministry to assist in enhancing the defence capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, parties to the conversation discussed continued support of the Canadian training mission in Ukraine and extension of its full activities after...

A note has been sent to the Iranian authorities to obtain official explanations of Iran's position. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukraine, together with international partners, will not let Iran shun responsibility for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 on January 8, 2020. Speaking on UA:Pershyi TV channel, he said the Embassy of Ukraine in Tehran had already responded to a statement by Iranian lawmaker Hassan Norouzi about the allegedly "correct" actions of the Iranian military who brought down the Ukrainian plane. In particular, a note was sent to the Iranian authorities to obtain official explanations of Iran's position. "As is the case in our country, lawmakers may say...