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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