Saturday, June 18, 2016

Premier of Ukraine Urges Europe Not to Ease Russia Sanctions


The new prime minister of Ukraine appealed to European countries to maintain economic sanctions against Russia, warning that those who might ease pressure would serve as the “aggressor’s accomplices.”

The prime minister, Volodymyr B. Groysman, said Friday that, “any softening or removal of sanctions may take place only when the aggressor returns national borders and stops violations of international law.”

His remarks in an interview at the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations came as senior European officials and executives made a rare visit to Russia, apparently in a bid to temper the worst estrangement in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War.


In the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and the Kremlin’s support for insurgents in Eastern Ukraine, the European Union and the United States imposed wide-ranging economic penalties against Russia.

European officials on Friday extended sanctions on doing business in Crimea, and are scheduled to consider next week whether to extend broader sanctions. But some European officials appear keen for a thaw with Russia.

“If our relationship today is troubled and marked by mistrust, it is not broken beyond repair,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said Thursday on a visit to St. Petersburg. “We need to mend it, and I believe we can.”

On that, the Ukrainian prime minister was adamant. He said it was imperative to maintain the strictest penalties, and he repeatedly referred to Russia as an “aggressor” that threatens the security and sovereignty of other countries.

“Countries that support the removal of sanctions will turn into the aggressor’s accomplices,” he said.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia commemorated Mr. Junker’s visit by posting a photograph of their meeting on Twitter.

Trade between Russia and Europe is still vital for both, but it has plummeted since 2014. The Western sanctions prohibited oil equipment exports to Russia and barred some of Russia’s largest banks from European capital markets. Russia struck back by banning vegetable, dairy and meat from Europe.

Mr. Groysman acknowledged the hit that European businesses had taken. But he insisted that moral and political stakes were higher.

“The economic impact of the sanctions on the European economies is negligible compared to the damage from the encouragement of the aggressor,” he said.

Mr. Groysman was appointed to lead the Ukrainian government in mid-April, and this was his first visit to the United States since taking up his post.

Ukraine’s bid to keep its conflict with Russia at the center of the Western diplomatic agenda has been frustrated. Ukraine has long wanted United Nations peacekeepers sent to its embattled east, but Russia, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council has blocked any consideration of that idea. Ukraine this year joined the Council as a temporary member.

Ukraine has lobbied for the Council to visit the contested area in the east, but Russia has blocked that, too.


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