Europeans Keep Russia Sanctions Amid Growing Terrorist Attacks
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Part 3 of THE YEAR IN REVIEW pages 5-12 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIII No. 5 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2015 $2.00 Congressional Ukrainian Caucus Europeans keep Russia sanctions introduces resolution calling for release of Savchenko amid growing terrorist attacks by Zenon Zawada WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), KYIV – European leaders decided Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) – all mem- this week to pursue extending existing bers of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus – on sanctions against Russian politicians January 26 introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for and enterprises, and to consider a new the release of Ukrainian fighter pilot and member of round after the deadliest attack on civil- Ukraine’s Parliament Nadiya Savchenko. This resolution ians in Ukraine thus far that occurred in is part of the global community’s effort to bring atten- the city of Mariupol on January 24. tion to her plight and demand her immediate release. The European Union’s Foreign “We continue to call on Russian authorities to Ministers Council voted on January 29 immediately release Nadiya Savchenko from custody. to recommend extending Crimea- We are gravely concerned by reports of her ill health related sanctions until September and since the commencement of a hunger strike on imposing new economic sanctions. The December 14, 2014, now into its seventh week. We are day before, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted to equally troubled by Ms. Savchenko’s lack of access to Nikolay Ryabchenko/UNIAN her counsel and adequate medical attention. We extend sanctions restricting Russian activity in the organization until the end The result of rockets fired by forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic into demand that Russia abide by its international obliga- residential areas of Mariupol on January 24; 31 residents were killed and of April. tions and the rule of law, and we join the United States over 100 were injured. Department of State in calling for Nadiya Savchenko’s The measures were welcomed by immediate release,” said Rep. Sander Levin, co-chair of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and “We need to try to resolve the crisis Council recommendations, which both the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus. its PACE delegation, which fiercely lob- by means of combining sanctions with cited the direct responsibility of the “The transnational abduction of Nadiya Savchenko bied for them amid intense Russian dialogue, otherwise we will end up Russian government. It was also con- by pro-Russian militants and subsequent unlawful efforts to lift them. Yet, the Europeans under threat of a more serious mili- demned by U.S. Secretary of State John detention in Russia is clear a violation of her human have begun to reveal doubts about tary conflict,” he added. Kerry, who also blamed the Kremlin rights. It is simply unacceptable that Nadiya Savchenko their sanctions approach, which so far The consideration of new sanctions for the Mariupol violence. has been held in isolation awaiting her day in Russian has only restrained, not deterred, was prompted by the January 24 Their claim of Russian involvement court for seven months. The time is now for Russia to Russia’s military aggression and ter- morning terrorist attack by pro-Rus- was confirmed by audio-recordings release Nadiya Savchenko and allow her to freely return rorism in Ukraine. sian forces on a residential neighbor- released on the day of the attack by to her family in Ukraine,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell. “If new sanctions helped us to hood of Mariupol, a key port city in the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), resolve the crisis, then I would be in “It’s clear President [Vladimir] Putin has no interest Donetsk Oblast that remains under which proved that pro-Russian terror- favor of further sanctions. However, I in reconciling the violence Russia has brought to Ukrainian government control. As a ists aimed to inflict damage on a resi- doubt that the crisis can be resolved result, 31 residents were killed and dential area. Ukraine. Despite signing the Minsk Protocol, Russia with new sanctions,” European more than 100 were injured. The SBU also confirmed that a continues to imprison Nadiya Savchenko in Moscow. Parliament President Martin Schultz The attack was condemned by the Russian citizen was among the attack- Today’s resolution makes the opinion of the U.S. said in a January 28 interview with an January 28 PACE resolution and the Congress clear, we stand with Ukraine and demand Austrian television network. January 29 EU Foreign Ministers (Continued on page 17) that Ms. Savchenko be released,” said Rep. Quigley. Washington events honor Ukraine’s unity, protest Russian terror, support Savchenko by Yaro Bihun WASHINGTON – Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans came together at three events here to honor Ukraine’s his- toric struggle for its unity and independence, and to express their support for Ukraine’s current fight against Russia’s attempt to undermine it again. The series of gatherings began on Friday, January 23, when the Embassy of Ukraine hosted an evening reception honoring Ukraine’s historic 1919 “Day of Unity.” It was fol- lowed by two demonstrations: in front of the White House on Sunday afternoon, January 25, in support of Ukraine’s current fight against Russian aggression, and on Monday, January 26, in front of the Russian Embassy, demanding the release of Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian military pilot imprisoned in Russia who has been on a hunger strike since mid-December. In his remarks at the Day of Unity reception at the embassy, Ambassador Alexander Motsyk noted that the January 22, 1919, signing of the “Akt Sobornosty,” which for Paul Hadzewycz With American and Ukrainian flags and anti-Putin placards in hand, Ukrainian demonstrators gather in front of (Continued on page 18) the White House on January 25. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2015 No. 5 ANALYSIS Lavrov unilaterally reinterprets Rada labels Russia as “aggressor state” Europe (PACE) is no grounds for the release of Lt. Nadiya Savchenko, a KYIV – Ukraine’s Parliament on January Ukrainian pilot who is in the seventh week 27 adopted a statement branding Russia an ceasefire agreement with Ukraine of a hunger strike in a Russian jail. Aleksei “aggressor state,” a move that deputies hope Pushkov told journalists on January 26 that will pave the way for punishment under by Vladimir Socor ment in any conceivable way. Mr. Lavrov is PACE’s demands for the release of Lt. now linking it to Russia’s implementation of international law. The Verkhovna Rada also Eurasia Daily Monitor Savchenko “have no legal grounds” because the armistice agreement, as a new pretext voted that day to define separatist self- she is accused of a crime committed before German Chancellor Angela Merkel had for stonewalling on implementation. styled “people’s republics” in the eastern she was elected to Ukraine’s Parliament. He hoped to see the Minsk armistice process Mr. Lavrov misquoted the Minsk armistice regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as “terror- spoke after PACE granted Lt. Savchenko rehabilitated at the Normandy Group’s agreement as, in his own words, “envisaging ist organizations,” and to appeal to the inter- immunity and PACE members said that sta- January 21 meeting in Berlin (see Eurasia a special status for the territories of the pro- national community for additional nonlethal tus obligates Russia to release her immedi- Daily Monitor, January 22, 23). Prefacing claimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s military aid and stronger sanctions against ately. Lt. Savchenko won a seat in the that meeting of the German, French, republics.” In fact, the agreement (September Russia. Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Verkhovna Rada in October 2014 and was Russian and Ukrainian ministers of foreign 5, 2014) never mentions those “republics” or Minister Grigory Karasin called the named as a member of its PACE delegation. affairs, Ms. Merkel declared: “The Minsk their “territories.” Moscow, meanwhile, Ukrainian statement “thoughtless and irre- (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and agreement remains, of course, the basis for demands negotiations on a “special status” sponsible,” and said it was aimed at blocking Interfax) talks. All partners, including Ukraine and (so as to legalize the secession process) while efforts to end the conflict between govern- dragging out the negotiations on the unful- Russia, continue adhering to the Minsk ment forces and pro-Russian rebels that has EU mulling “terrorist” designation filled military terms of the ceasefire. agreement, and I hope that this will remain killed more than 5,000 people in eastern Russian and proxy forces currently con- so” (Bundeskanzlerin.de, January 21). Ukraine since April 2014. (RFE/RL) BRUSSELS – According to January 28 That statement overlooked the evidence trol a 300-kilometer section of what is legal- news reports, European Union officials are that Russia had de facto scuttled the ly the Ukrainian side of the Russia-Ukraine Poroshenko to Putin: Free Savchenko considering designating pro-Russian sepa- September 2014 Minsk agreements soon border. The armistice agreement envisages ratists in eastern Ukraine “terrorists” as OSWIECIM, Poland – Ukrainian President after their signing. But, even as Ms. Merkel securing that border under monitoring by they prepare potential fresh sanctions Petro Poroshenko has called on his Russian was grasping at straws in Berlin, Russian the Organization for Security and against Moscow over its role in the Ukraine counterpart Vladimir Putin to release the Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Mr. Lavrov, crisis, diplomatic sources in Brussels say. however, is setting a chain of preconditions jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.