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By Karin Strohecker

LONDON (Reuters) - Ukraine has failed to offer a "justiciable" or court-ready defence for not paying back $3 billion lent to it by Russia in 2013, a British court ruled on Wednesday, refusing to send the case to a full trial.

This included a claim that non-payment was a countermeasure against Russian interference with Ukraine's sovereignty.

The case between the two adversarial governments centres on $3 billion lent by Russia in December 2013 to Ukraine under pro-Moscow former President Viktor Yanukovich. The debt was structured in the form of a Eurobond governed by English law.

Moscow wants the bond to be repaid in full but Ukraine, which now has a pro-Western government, says Russia should have participated in a 2015 restructuring of its sovereign Eurobonds

Judge William Blair said in the pre-trial hearing the court had given the case careful consideration but added:

"Ultimately this is a claim for repayment of debt instruments to which the court has held there is no justiciable defence. It would not be right to order the case to go forward to a full trial in such circumstances."

Ukraine said it would appeal the ruling.

Russia had requested the UK court for a summary judgement -- a move often used to speed up procedures -- meaning the court after examining Ukraine's defence arguments would decide if they are likely to stand up in court.

Ukraine had put forward four pillars of defence.

It said its then-government had lacked the capacity to enter into the agreement with Russia, that the debt was incurred under duress, the terms attached to the issue were unfair and finally, that non-payment was a countermeasure against Russian interference in its economy and territory.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.

The judge acknowledged that Ukraine had made a strong case regarding the economic pressure and Russian threats which led to Kiev accepting Russia's financial support in 2013, rather than signing an European Union accession agreement.

But he added that the arguments on duress and countermeasures both concerned international law -- which the court could not consider.

Ukraine's ministry of finance would also have had the usual authority to enter into a deal like that, the judge added.

The judge has written in the past on the concept of "odious debt", a term used to describe debt incurred by a government that does not serve the interest of the country.

Ukraine's Finance Minister Oleksandr Danykyuk said his country had received the judge's permission to appeal and had been granted a stay of execution until at least late-April.

Legal experts expected the court of appeal would hear the case later this year, or possibly in early 2018.

"The bottom line is that litigation will most likely continue and Ukraine will not be forced to pay Russia until 2019, when the rest of the bonds come due anyway," said Evghenia Sleptsova, an economist for Central and Eastern Europe at Oxford Economics.

The first of new Eurobonds issued as part of the debt restructuring seen widely as investor friendly matures on September 2019, the last one in the series in 2027.

(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kiev and Sujata Rao in London; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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UK court says Ukraine has no 'justiciable defence' in $3 ...

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The comments are notable given President Donald Trump's at-times reluctance to criticize Russia over its actions in Crimea, though he did declare last month that the territory was "taken" by Russia. As a candidate, Trump hinted he might recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, and sources have previously told CNN that Ukraine-related sanctions were on the table for review as part of Trump's interest in pursuing warmer ties with Moscow.

"American and NATO support for Ukraine remains steadfast. As we have repeated at every ministerial and summit since Russia launched its campaign of aggression against Ukraine, NATO allies stand firm in our support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tillerson said at a NATO meeting at the organization's headquarters in Brussels. "We do not, and will not, accept Russian efforts to change the borders of territory of Ukraine."

He added, "We will continue to hold Russia accountable to its Minsk commitments. The United States sanctions will remain until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered our sanctions."

Earlier Friday, Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis criticized Russian actions in overseas comments aimed at reassuring US allies.

Mattis, appearing with his British counterpart in London, also called out the Putin regime for "mucking around" in other people's elections -- a particularly notable claim coming at a time when federal and congressional investigators are probing alleged Russian meddling in the US elections last November.

"We look to engaging with Russia on a political or diplomatic level, but right now, Russia is choosing to be a strategic competitor," Mattis said during a news conference with Michael Fallon, the UK defense secretary. "We are going to have to carve out diplomatically some kind of maneuver room here, assuming Russia can change its behavior and act in accordance with international norms and international law."

He also said "Russian activity" in Afghanistan "gives us concern," though he stopped short of saying the Putin government was arming the Taliban.

In response to Mattis, Alexey Pushkov, a senior Russian lawmaker, tweeted, "New US administration sounds just like the old one Mattis is indistinguishable from (former Defense Secretary Ash) Carter, Tillerson is talking about 'Russian aggression.' (Barack) Obama and (Hillary) Clinton must be happy."

Tillerson is in Brussels to reinforce US commitment to NATO -- an organization Trump has repeatedly criticized -- and referred to the alliance as "the bedrock for transatlantic security."

"We understand that a threat against one of us is a threat against all of us, and we will respond accordingly. We will uphold the agreements we have made to defend our allies," he added.

The Trump administration's top diplomat, however, reiterated on Friday Trump's call for members to increase their financial contributions to the organization.

"Our goal should be to agree at the May leaders meeting that by the end of the year, all allies will have either met the pledge guidelines or will have developed plans that clearly articulate how, with annual milestone progress commitments, the pledge will be fulfilled," Tillerson told the ministers.

According to one senior administration official, this isn't necessarily because Trump's view of Putin has evolved. But Trump believes in the current atmosphere -- with so much media scrutiny and ongoing probes into Trump-Russia ties and election meddling -- that it won't be possible to "make a deal," as the President himself has framed it, the officials said.

One of the White House officials said the President was particularly "frustrated" in a meeting in the Oval Office with newly minted national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other top officials in the wake of Russia's February cruise missile deployment -- an apparent treaty violation.

This official said that with each violation from Russia, the President views it as that much harder to make amends. The President is not closing the door on engaging with Russia on a variety of issues -- including Syria, Ukraine and combating ISIS -- but the administration is not optimistic at the moment.

CNN's Nicole Gaouette, Sara Murray, Elizabeth Landers, Eugene Scott, Mary Ilyushina and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.

Read this article:
Tillerson: US to maintain Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia until Crimea is returned - CNN

A Ukrainian intelligence officer was killed in a car explosion in Mariupol on Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Kharaberiush was deputy chief of Donetsks local counterintelligence unit, over which Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014. Ukraines security service (SBU) was quick to blame the separatists.

The SBU will punish the terrorists who blew up the car with the SBU officer in Mariupol as soon as possible, the SBU statement said. Donetsk region police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin said Kharaberiush, who was alone in the car, died instantly. No other information was made available.

On Monday, Ukraines news agency reported three Ukrainian servicemen and eight were wounded in Donbas in 24 hours. That came just days after former Russian parliamentarian Denis Voronenkov was murdered in Kiev (he was set to testify against Viktor Yanukovych, the former Kremlin-backed president of Ukraine).

Mariupol is a Sea of Azov port town, and one hit hard by the violence that has killed over 10,000 in Ukraine since April 2014. It was at one point controlled by separatists, but later retaken by Ukrainians. Since fighting began, the towns population grew by over 100,000 (one in five in Mariupol is an inland refugee, of which there are 1.8 million in Ukraine).

Many believe Russia is angling to seize Mariupol to create a land bridge to the Crimean peninsula. The city has been seen as a bellwether for whether the Minsk agreements are being fully and properly implemented.

On Friday, Mariupol once again served as a reminder that they have not been.

Photo credit:ALEKSEY FILIPPOV/AFP/Getty Image

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Ukrainian State Security Officer Killed in Car Explosion in Mariupol - Foreign Policy (blog)

By: AFP | Kiev | Published:March 31, 2017 6:32 pm Members of the security and the emergency services work at the site of a car explosion, where Ukrainian state security service (SBU) officer Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Kharaberiush was killed, in the eastern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 31, 2017. (REUTERS/Nikolai Ryabchenko)

Ukraines army said on Thursday that it has suffered more losses in the fight against pro-Russian insurgents in the east as tensions in the three-year conflict simmered. The latest deaths were announced as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he would be holding talks with NATO allies in Brussels about Russias aggression in Ukraine.

Two Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 13 others injured over the past 24 hours when their positions came under rebel fire, the the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

The deaths bring the military casualty toll to eight since the start of the week.

Ukraines security service also said a colonel had been killed in a car blast in the government-controlled city of Mariupol, located near the frontline. The local prosecutors office branded it a terrorist act.

Two civilians were also killed in shelling in the city of Yasynuvata, just north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, the rebel news agency reported.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday ordered his military to implement a ceasefire starting on April 1, but said he was not very optimistic that pro-Russian rebels would adhere to the truce.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the start of a pro-Russian insurgency in April 2014 which Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of masterminding.

The conflict, and Russias annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, have pushed ties between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.

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Five killed in east Ukraine as tensions simmer - The Indian Express