Yevgeny Magda
Volodymyr
Groysman has made his first overseas visit. Angela Merkel on behalf of not just
Germany but of the EU has said when Ukraine and Georgia would receive a
visa-free regime. The International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg
carefully orchestrated as a site of Putin’s geopolitical triumph has failed to
become such.
Prime
Minister headed the Ukrainian governmental delegation to the United States.
Since the Obama administration was not really enthusiastic about Arseniy
Yatsenyuk being substituted for Volodymyr Groysman, the latter had to be as
compelling and energetic as possible. A busy schedule of meetings the prime
minister, including talks with Joe Biden, was accompanied by a demonstration of
the determination to implement reform and make proper use of Ukraine’s
potential. There is reason to believe that the outcome of the trip was in fact
positive, as Groysman made great effort to engage in a dialogue with both wings
of the U.S. establishment.
Meanwhile,
Angela Merkel during the talks with Volodymyr Groysman’s Georgian counterpart
Giorgi Kvirikashvili decided to cross the t’s and dot the i’s on the issue of a
visa waiver for Ukraine and Georgia. The most influential European politician
has vowed to provide it as soon as the European structures develop… a mechanism
of rapid suspension of such visa-free regime. Concerned with the flood of
refugees, the European Union is seeking to protect itself from the citizens of
the states which have stepped on a path of developing partnership with the EU.
This news can be anything but comforting. Such a change of sentiment within the
EU should rather be a lesson for Ukraine and other countries, who have earlier
declared their commitment to European integration.
NATO
is more consistent in supporting Ukraine, as evidenced both by the outcome of
the visit of Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak to Brussels, and the statements
of the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has urged Russia to
withdraw its troops and military equipment from Donbas. The upcoming NATO
summit in Warsaw could become a landmark event in the context of Ukraine’s
Euro-Atlantic integration. Another focus of the next week is the Holy and Great
Council scheduled to be held on the island of Crete. among which the
participants will be representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. This
gathering is a historic attempt to bring together all leaders of the world's
Orthodox churches for the first time in more than a millennium, and the
Ukrainian issue is expected to be voiced there.
The
Verkhovna Rada with its decree has earlier called on the Ecumenical Patriarch
to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine from Moscow's
Patriarchate. However, in the last minute move, Russian Patriarch Kirill
reiterated Friday his church would not attend unique council, thus stalling the
attempt to hold this pan-Orthodox synod.
Relations
with Russia remain a tense and painful subject for the official Kyiv. After
another round of fruitless negotiations of a Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk,
the Ukrainian president’s envoy Iryna Gerashchenko complained about the
ultimatum tone of statements by Russian representatives and separatists under
their control. It is significant that Putin’s longtime aide Vladislav Surkov
showed up at a parallel track of political consultations of the Normandy Four
leaders’ advisors. The man was earlier referred to in the media as the
architect of Donbas crisis.
Apparently,
the Kremlin is far from being happy with the situation in the east of Ukraine,
considering it moved to engage heavy political artillery. In this context, it
is also interesting that Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia Hennadiy
Afanasyev and Yuriy Soloshenko were swapped for two citizens of Ukraine (!),
charged with separatism.
On top
of Vladimir Putin’s agenda is the maximum weakening of Western sanctions, which
continue to affect significantly the Russian economy.
Sergey
Lavrov is in his own right, claiming that "we do not run [around the
world] for the lifting of sanctions." Indeed, this time, a platform for
channeling the Kremlin’s arguments to the western powers was the International
Economic Forum held in St. Petersburg, where Vladimir Putin has tried to
undermine the unity between the U.S. and the EU on the question of sanctions
for the annexation of Crimea and the incitement of conflict in Donbas.
The
Russian president, obviously out of tactical considerations, even recognized
the United States the world’s only superpower and expressed readiness to
cooperate with. However, despite the cunning move, Putin is unlikely to have
reached the goals he set for the Forum. UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon seemed
to play into the hands of the master of the Kremlin by assessing a bit too
enthusiastically Russia’s “critical role” in Donbas peaceful settlement.
Ukrainian Permanent Representative to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko reacted
immediately by publicly voicing his outrage with the remark. Nicolas Sarcozy,
who harbors hope to return to the Elisee Palace, was also among the guests in
St. Petersburg, traditionally sounded like the Kremlin’s sweetheart with his
pro-Russian repertoire.
However,
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, whose intention to visit the
Forum was quite puzzling for a number of EU member states, has said that Russia
is indeed a party to the Minsk agreements and therefore it must comply with
their provisions. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also linked the lifting
of sanctions with the implementation of the Minsk-2. That is why Moscow
shouldn’t expect its triumphant return on the world stage.
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