In his speech at Maidan square, in central Kiev, ahead of the 25th Independence Day parade, Petro Poroshenko said armed separatist fighters had not made any progress in Ukraine, Efe news reported.
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They’re hoping to make that permanent, with a new bill called the STAND for Ukraine Act aiming to make temporary measures imposed during Ukraine’s regime change permanent, and hamstring all future governments from a diplomatic rapprochement with Russian Federation.
The conflict in Ukraine’s industrial heartland between Russian-backed separatists and government troops has killed more than 9,500 people since it began in 2014.
“Putin is controlling the situation, and that makes it the most unsafe situation”, Samus said.
“Country not found”, a post on the Ukrainian armed forces’ Instagram page read in Russian, while also declaring, “Ukraine is no more”.
His comments echo those of a number of Ukranian lawmakers from across the political spectrum who have lately said Western actions against Russian Federation – including economic sanctions – failed to protect Ukraine. Previously, Moscow had hoped that sustained economic, military and political pressure could lead to significant loss of support within Ukraine for its pro-Western Kiev government. Meanwhile, as long as the peace deal is stalled, the sanctions remain in place, with the EU’s preconditions to lift them growing no closer. An International Crisis Group report said that the 310-mile line of separation between the Ukrainian and separatist sides is “not fit for purpose” and that the Minsk agreements are “being violated daily and heavily”.
With those moves, he said, the world “is completely changed”.
But Kiev and the West accuse Russian Federation of backing the insurgency in order to keep the Ukrainian leaders off balance and constantly dependent on the Kremlin’s whims.
The uptick in tensions coincides with a visit last Friday by Putin to Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Whether the plot is real or imagined, Moscow has cranked up its military activity in Crimea at the same time as holding a series of what it says are pre-planned war games and missile deployments in the area.
“Based on evidence collected the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine on August 8 notified the individuals that they are suspected of committing serious crimes against the national security of Ukraine, endangering public safety, peace and breaking worldwide laws”, Lutsenko said”.
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Klimkin said that Ukraine plans to file a case in worldwide courts “relating to Russia’s violation of United Nations maritime law” in the waters surrounding Crimea, the Interfax news agency reported.
