Ukraine will find it easier to persuade European Union countries to renew
sanctions against Russia this summer if it shows
progress in pushing reforms and tackling corruption, the former chief of NATO
told Reuters on Saturday.
Anders
Fogh Rasmussen was appointed an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
on Friday, having been NATO secretary-general when Ukraine plunged into
conflict with Russian-backed separatists following Moscow's annexation of
Crimea in 2014.
The EU
will decide within weeks whether to renew sanctions against Russia, which
requires the unanimous agreement of its 28 member states. The sanctions will
probably be extended despite growing opposition within the 28-nation bloc.
Rasmussen
said continuing the sanctions was the only way to exert pressure on Russia to
stop supporting separatists fighting the Ukrainian army in the Donbass region
and getting a ceasefire agreement to stick.
"I
know from talks with politicians in Western capitals that their willingness to
continue sanctions is also linked to the Ukrainian willingness to actually
carry out comprehensive reforms," Rasmussen said by telephone.
"So
my goal as adviser to the president would be to actually initiate a two-way
street. Firstly of course in Western capitals I will argue that the Ukrainians
have already carried out profound reforms."
"But
on the other hand, I will also bring messages back to the president from my
interlocutors so that the Ukrainian authorities clearly understand what is the
priority in Western capitals," Rasmussen added.
The
separatist conflict has killed more than 9,000 people and deadly violence
flares weekly on the front line, with both sides accusing each other of
ceasefire violations. Rasmussen said the situation in eastern Ukraine was
"alarming".
PUSHING
ALL THE TIME
Rasmussen
takes on his new role at a time of growing disillusionment in Ukraine about the
pace of change after the 2014 Maidan protests brought a pro-Western leadership
to power.
Poroshenko's
popularity has fallen and several high-profile reformers have either been
forced from office or quit in frustration. The economy minister resigned in
February accusing a close associate of Poroshenko of corruption.
Rasmussen's
appointment has ruffled feathers in Moscow. Leonid Kalashnikov, a lawmaker in
the foreign affairs committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, called it
a "hostile gesture", according to Interfax news agency.
Konstantin
Kosachev, a senior member of Russia's upper house of parliament, wrote on
Facebook of Rasmussen's appointment: "All this buffoonery serves one goal:
to keep Ukraine in the centre of attention of its Western partners at any
cost."
"For
if this attention weakens, and they suggest Ukraine engages in solving its own
problems and no longer blames Russia or the 'difficult legacy of the past', it
will be like death for the Kiev regime," he wrote.
Rasmussen,
a former Danish prime minister, said Western countries were concerned about
entrenched corruption in Ukraine, but stressed that Kiev had made substantial
progress.
"I
don't think it's a fair criticism to say that Ukraine is backsliding," he
said. "The current Ukrainian administration under President Poroshenko has
carried out more reforms of Ukrainian society than you have seen in the past 20
years."
"But
of course it is essential for continued Western support that this reform process
continues. And that's why you have to push all the time."
(Additional
reporting by Alexander Winning in MOSCOW; Editing by Richard Balmforth and
Gareth Jones)
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