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Ukraines president, Petro Poroshenko, shakes hands with the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, in Washington. Photograph: Tass / Barcroft Images

Russia has canceled a planned round of talks with the US in protest at new sanctions imposed this week over Moscows military intervention in Ukraine.

The deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, denounced the new sanctions, which expanded the list of individuals and organisations targeted by the US treasury, as the responsibility of avid Russophobes in Congress who were determined to derail US-Russian relations.

As a result, Ryabkov said he was cancelling a meeting with his US counterpart, Tom Shannon, in St Petersburg later this week which was supposed to have been part of a continuing dialogue between Washington and Moscow aimed at reducing irritants in bilateral relations.

The sanctions, Ryabkov said, had meant that the circumstances were not conducive to holding this round of dialogue, particularly as there is no agenda set out for it, as Washington does not to want to make concrete proposals.

In response, the state department expressed regret and said the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was open to future discussions.

However, in a bluntly worded response to Ryabkovs statement, the state department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, insisted the new measures were intended to reinforce existing sanctions and were designed to counter attempts to circumvent our sanctions.

Lets remember that these sanctions didnt just come out of nowhere. Our targeted sanctions were imposed in response to Russias ongoing violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbor, Ukraine, Nauert said.

If the Russians seek an end to these sanctions, they know very well the US position, she added, saying that Moscow would have to abide fully by the Minsk agreement for resolving the conflict in Ukraine and end its occupation of Crimea.

The cancellation of the St Petersburg meeting and the stern exchange of statements are part of a marked dip in US-Russian relations despite Donald Trumps efforts to improve them. In Congress, House allies of Trump have stalled a Senate bill that would intensify sanctions further and take the power to lift them out of his hands.

On Wednesday, a plane carrying the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, was approached by a Nato F-16 fighter over the Baltic Sea, prompting a Russian fighter jet to insert itself between the two planes and tilting its wings to show it was armed.

The mid-air incident came a day after another close encounter above the Baltic between US and Russian warplanes.

The Pentagon spokesman, Capt Jeff Davis, said: Due to the high rate of speed, the poor control that the Russian pilot had of his aircraft during the intercept, the aircraft commander of the [US reconnaissance plane] RC 135 determined it to be unsafe. Such unsafe actions have the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all involved.

Sweden also reported that a Russian plane had come close to one of its military aircraft over the Baltic on Monday.

The Russian defence minister put out a statement saying that two US spy planes had been making provocative manoeuvres.

In Syria, meanwhile, Moscow has announced it had suspended a hotline between the US and Russian militaries in Syria and that it would view as targets any coalition planes flying west of the Euphrates river. The Pentagon has played down the threat, saying it continued to operate west of the Euphrates.

Public statements aside, we have not seen the Russians do any actions that cause us concern. We continue to operate, making some adjustments for prudent measures, Davis said.

Maxim Suchkov, a political analyst and editor of al-Monitors Russian coverage, said Moscows decision to cancel the St Petersburg talks is explained by that given the recent events in Syria and Ukraine, Russia wants to raise the stakes and attempts to take its own position of strength vis-a-vis Washington.

Id say its a risky move on the Russian side, since in Washington the message to suspend the talks may be read differently from what Moscow intended it to sound, Suchkov said.

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Russia cancels talks after US imposes new sanctions over Ukraine conflict - The Guardian

KIEV, June 22. /TASS/.KIEV, June 22. /TASS/. Europe has brought Ukraine to its knees, and the country should not count on any help from it, ex-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said, speaking at the international forum dubbed "The dawn of Europe: conformity to the laws of history in civilized advancement."

"We rejoice at our free choice, Europe, and trade with it (the EU), but what do we sell to it - nothing but wheat and honey, and quotas are very stringent," he stressed.

"We have used up our quota for the first quarter, so now the Europeans are bringing us to our knees, telling us to chop wood and bring it to them. Where is their help to Ukraine? Once we are poverty-stricken, wholl need us?"

Kuchma also stated that everyone in Europe had already forgotten about Ukraine. "Look at the European mass media, nobody mentions anything about Ukraine there," he pointed out.

All of this is happening, according to Kuchma, because the Verkhovna Rada and politicians are engaged "in the same quarrels and all are betting on Donbass."

"Why have we never been a state?Today many, even in Ukraine, consider us not a political object, but a political subject. War is raging in the country, and we have no consistency within the political elite, which does not exist as well," the ex-president acknowledged.

At the same time, he added, "the economy has been totally neglected." "We are falling apart, there are no advanced technology sectors left, no missile industries and no aviation," Kuchma noted.

The nations science faces a similar situation: "How is the academy of sciences financed? We are turning into a raw material colony. We have only chemical and agricultural industries left. Where are we going?" he lamented.

The ex-president called on Ukraine to start "dealing with its own problems.""Enough walking around the world with hat in hand, our budget is 70% credit-supported. Ukrainian debt is up to 70% today, and we take (money) from the International Monetary Fund and immediately pay them back, with interest," the former president concluded.

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Ex-Ukrainian president lambastes Europe for 'brining Ukraine to its knees' - TASS

KIEV, June 22. /TASS/. A Swiss bank has frozen Ukraines 15 million-euro guarantee for hosting the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, UA:PBC (Ukraines National Public Broadcasting Company), the contests Ukrainian organizer, said in a statement.

"The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) informed Ukraines National Public Broadcasting Company that the Geneva Debt Collection Office had frozen the money. However, in its message to the EBU, the Office did not clarify the reasons for the freeze," the statement reads.

Ukraines National Public Broadcasting Company added that it had hired a law firm to tackle the matter.

Ukraines capital of Kiev hosted the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on May 9-13. The contest involved as many as 42 countries. However, Russian contestant Yulia Samoilova could not participate as the Ukrainian Security Council (SBU) had issued a three-year travel ban against her, citing her performance in Crimea on June 27, 2015. Following the ban, Russias Channel One cancelled the broadcast of the contest.

On May 4, Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group Chairman Frank-Dieter Freiling said that sanctions could be introduced against Ukraine and Russia for breaching contest rules. According to him, Kiev should have ensured the participation of all the entrants but violated this obligation by banning Samoilova to enter Ukraine, while the Russian delegation failed to attend various compulsory meetings held early in the year.

In other media

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Swiss bank freezes Ukraine's 15 million-euro guarantee for hosting Eurovision - TASS

Interactive dialogue on the OHCHR periodic update on Ukraine, 12 June 2017

Thank you Mr. President,

Human Rights Watch welcomes the periodic reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine provided by the Office of the High Commissioner.

We share the High Commissioners concerns over the impact repeated ceasefire violations in Eastern Ukraine have on daily lives of civilians. All parties should investigate attacks that caused civilian casualties and damaged civilian infrastructure and facilities, including schools, youth summer camps, and hospitals. We also urge the Ukrainian government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and to take concrete measures to deter the military use of schools.

We welcome the steps taken by the Ukrainian authorities that facilitate the crossing of the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, such as the move to make the e-pass permanent and steps to facilitate crossing for residents of the grey zones. But as high summer temperatures will bring new hardship to vulnerable civilians, more efforts are urgently needed, such as securing shelters from the sun, provision of water, sanitation and toilet facilities, and giving priority to assisting older persons, persons with disabilities, young children, and pregnant women.

While we had welcomed the release of all detainees who had been forcibly disappeared and held at the unlawful detention facility at the Kharkiv compound of Ukraine's security service, we remain concerned about the total lack of accountability for these serious violations. Russia-backed separatists have provided no information on incommunicado detention documented in separatist-held areas.

We are also deeply concerned about the Ukrainian governments recent restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information that are not only unlawfully disproportionate to any legitimate security concern, but are also harmful and counterproductive. This includes a 15 May decree banning public access to Russian social media platforms, news outlets, and a major search engine widely used in Ukraine and the requirement to activists and journalists reporting on government corruption to file public declarations of their assets.

Human Rights Watch has continued to document the harassment of pro-Ukraine activists and the Crimean Tatar community in Russia-occupied Crimea. Authorities exercising effective control on the Crimean Peninsula should urgently end persecution of members of the Crimean Tatar community and the arbitrary actions against defense lawyers and other peaceful critics.

Finally, Human Rights Watch urges Ukraines international partners to make it clear to Ukrainian authorities that the future of the country should be enshrined on the principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law. They should privately and publicly, including at this Council, call on the Ukrainian authorities to reverse the recent backslide on freedom of expression, to fully investigate allegations of arbitrary detention and torture by Ukrainian forces, and expedite consideration of the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

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Ukraine: Interactive dialogue on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights periodic update ... - Human Rights Watch (press...

U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukraines president on Tuesday that he hoped to see a resolution to the countrys crisis but stopped short of publicly endorsing a 2015 accord calling for an end to Kremlin backing for pro-Russian separatist rebels.

Trump sat down in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for talks that were officially called a drop-by visit after the Ukrainian leaders separate session with Vice President Mike Pence.

With TV cameras rolling, Trump said a lot of progress has been made between the two countries and that the two had very, very good discussions.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the White House said the discussion centered on support for the peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and President Poroshenkos reform agenda and anticorruption efforts.

There was no mention in the statement of the Minsk agreement, the 2015 accord aimed at ending Russian support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States could back away from that agreement to avoid being handcuffed by the policy.

However, before Trumps meeting with Poroshenko, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on 38 individuals and organizations over Russias actions in Ukraine, and said the actions were being taken to keep pressure on Russia to reach a diplomatic solution in Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that there should be no sanctions relief until Russia meets its obligations under the Minsk agreements.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the new round of sanctions were regrettable and that Russophobia in the United States was raging beyond all bounds.

The latest sanctions target Ukrainian and Russian officials and companies that U.S. authorities accuse of helping Russia tighten its grip on the Crimean Peninsula, a part of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move Western leaders denounced as illegal.

Poroshenko, speaking to reporters after his session with Trump, said he came away pleased with what he called a full, detailed meeting. He was also holding talks with Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

We received strong support from the U.S. side, support in terms of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the independence of our state, Poroshenko said.

The somewhat neutral body language between Trump and Poroshenko contrasted with chummy photos that emerged from the U.S. presidents meeting last month with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak.

Trump has said he wants better relations with Russia, but his goal has been complicated by tensions between the two countries over Syria and by opposition among many of his fellow Republicans in Congress to warmer ties with Moscow.

On Monday, Russia threatened to shoot down U.S. warplanes over Syria after a U.S. Navy fighter shot down a Syrian warplane.

In a little more than two weeks, Trump is to hold his first meeting as president with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Trump has found himself on the defensive politically over investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible ties between his campaign and Russian officials. Russia denies it has conducted such a campaign, and Trump denies there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

The new sanctions on Russia announced by the Treasury came after the U.S. Senate passed legislation last week that would impose new measures against Russia and limit Trumps ability to roll back sanctions against that country in the future.

Peter Harrell, a sanctions expert at the Center for a New American Security, said he saw the bill, which is now headed to the House of Representatives, as a sign that lawmakers were skeptical of Trumps intentions toward Russia.

Harrell said he believes Tuesdays actions by the administration were partly intended to ease those concerns and to send a message to Congress that they do not need to enact new Russia sanctions.

Read more from the original source:
US sanctions 38 individuals, entities over Russian actions in Ukraine - The Globe and Mail