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The Ukrainian foreign minister says he hopes to meet National Front leader Marine Le Pen when he visits Paris in May to persuade her to stop supporting Russias annexation of Crimea.

Le Pen is currently favorite to reach the runoff of Frances presidential election in May, but her chances of turning that into a second-round victory are slim.

Kiev is sufficiently concerned by Le Pens potential to seek a meeting to discuss her support for Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and is supporting an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told broadcaster 1+1 on Thursday that he will meet Le Pen during a visit to Paris, in order to change her mind on Crimea. He said he would reach out to all possible winners of the French presidential election, to ensure Ukraine maintains a strong relationship with France.

We are working with the teams of the candidates with different political parties and journalists, Klimkin said. He added that Ukrainian Ambassador to France Oleg Shamshur will arrange the meeting with Le Pen. I will show her these materials which we have prepared, including those in relation to Crimea in the process of our request (to the U.N.) vis-a-vis the Convention on racial discrimination.

The Ukrainian government claims that Russia is persecuting Crimeas Muslim Tatar minority and that Russia should return Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.

Le Pen and her National Front party have been accused of being funded by Russia. Earlier this year, the party sought a $30 million loan from Russia and in 2014 it accepted a $9.8 million loan from the First Czech Russian Bank. Le Pen insists the loan was purely commercial.

We know perfectly well that her party is also financed by Russia, Klimkin said, We know perfectly well the degree of attachment but we must get working and we must press on. We have some ideas but I am not going to discuss all of that today.

Le Pen has grown in popularity in recent years as France has struggled with Islamic extremism and economic discontent. Jean-Marie Le Pen, her father and former leader of the party, managed to get to the second round of the presidential election in 2002 but was soundly beaten as conservatives and socialists united behind Jacques Chirac.

The U.K.s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. Presidential election suggest that nationalist and anti-European policies might be enjoying an international renaissance, which could favor Le Pen.

The National Front leader's opponents includethe Socialist partys Benoit Hamon, Francois Fillon from the Republicans and former Socialist minister Emmanuel Macron, running as an independent.

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Ukraine Wants to Make Le Pen Relax Russia Support - Newsweek

From the beginning of the crisis more than three years ago, false (or half-true) narratives have dominated US media accounts and policymaking.

The John Batchelor Show, February 7.

Nation Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Now in their fourth year, previous installments are at TheNation.com). With fighting having escalated between the US-backed Kiev government and Russian-backed rebels in Donbass, this weeks discussion focuses again on Ukraines role in the new Cold War since 20132014.

Cohen begins with a generalization: As the possibility of a Trump-Putin dtente grows, so do false narratives, even fake news, that the US political-media establishment has deployed, knowingly or not, to characterize the new Cold War and to shape Washington policy. Since Trump became president, for example, allegations that his would-be partner Putin has killed personal opponents and journalists (for which there are no actual facts) have redoubled, as have allegations that he hacked the DNC in order to put Trump in the White House (for which the facts are extremely tenuous and hotly disputed even by American experts), all the while, according to a New York Times editorial on February 7, snuffing out Russias once-incipient democracy (a process that actually began under Putins predecessor, Boris Yeltsin). In this toxically mendacious context, Cohen makes the following alternative points regarding the more than three-year long Ukrainian civil and proxy war:

The orthodox US narrative that Putin alone is responsible for the new Cold War hangs largely on his alleged unprovoked aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and ever since. (The narrative is sustained in part by the near-total absence of any American mainstream reporting of what is actually happening in Kiev-controlled or rebel-controlled territories.) In fact, Putins actions both in Donbass, where an indigenous rebellion broke out against the overthrow of the legally elected president in Kiev three years ago, and in Crimea, which had been part of Russia for more than 200 years(about as long as the United States has existed), was a direct reaction to the longstanding campaign by Washington and Brussels to bring Ukraine into NATOs sphere of influence, itself a form of political aggression. Cohen discusses the centuries of intimate relations between large segments of Ukrainian society and Russia, including family ties, concluding that it was reckless and immoral for Washington and Brussels to impose upon Kiev a choice between Russia and the West, thereby fostering, if not precipitating, civil war. And to flatly reject Putins counter-proposal for a three-way Ukrainian-Russian-Western relationship. In this regard, Washington and Brussels bear considerable responsibility for the 10,000 who have died in the ensuing civil and proxy war, but they have yet to assume any responsibility at all.

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A similar false narrative quickly emerged to explain the recent escalation of fighting along the cease-fire zone in Ukraine. There are no facts to support the US political-media establishments contention that Putin initiated the escalationall reported facts point to Kievor any logic whatsoever: Why would Putin, who has openly welcomed Trumps dtente initiative, seek to provoke or challenge the new American president at this critical moment? Whether or not Kiev was actively encouraged by anti-dtente forces in Washington is unclear, but a real possibility. (Inflammatory remarks made by Senators McCain and Graham in Ukraine, in January, now circulating on a video, may be telling evidence. If so, the blood of the 40 or more who died in the JanuaryFebruary fighting is on their hands as well.)

What, Cohen asks, are the chances of Trump-Putin cooperation to end the Ukrainian crisis? If Ukraine is not to fragment into two, three, or more parts, a united Ukraine will have to be militarily non-aligned (that is, never a member of NATO) and free to have prosperous economic relations with both Russia and the West. The Minsk Accords, drafted by Germany and France and endorsed by Moscow and Kiev, would have moved Ukraine in this direction, but have been repeatedly thwarted, primarily by Kiev. Whether or not full backing for Minsk by both Trump and Putin, particularly the provision giving rebel territories some degree of home rule, would end the Ukrainian civil war is far from certain, especially as it might result in the overthrow of the current Kiev government by well-armed ultra-nationalist forces, but for now there is no peaceful alternative.

Cohen concludes that even if Trump and Putin adopt a wise joint policy toward Ukraine, neither leader has much political capital to spare at home. Trump is opposed by virtually across-the-political-spectrum opposition to any kind of dtente with Russia, especially regarding Ukraine. And Putin can never be seen at home as selling out Russias brethren anywhere in southeast Ukraine. Whether both leaders have the understanding and determination to end Ukraines tragic and utterly pointless war, which has left the country in ruins, remains to be seen.

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Ukraine Revisited - The Nation.

Urkaines prime minister has been drumming up support from the EU after renewed fighting in the countrys east.

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman blamed Russia for the violence, a charge repeatedly denied by Moscow.

This town used to be very peaceful. But its communal and electric services were heavily shelled. Living conditions for the population of Avdiivka became appalling, the Ukrainian premier said in a joint press conference with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Juncker said that a deal on visa liberalisation would be in place by the summer.

Eastern Ukraine has its worst violence ever for two years with more than 35 deaths in over a week.

But as the war rages, the government in Kiev is pressing for deeper ties with Brussels.

Two days ago, a top separatist commander, known as Givi, was killed in the east.

It came four days after a car bomb killed another pro-Russian military leader.

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Ukraine seeks deeper EU ties - euronews

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity in a letter to the president of Lithuania, which has often backed Ukraine in its disputes with Russia.

Trump made the remarks in a letter to President Dalia Grybauskaite that was dated February 8 and posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania.

He praised Lithuania's "support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as your efforts to increase energy diversification [and] advance our shared goal to enhance European and regional security."

Lithuania and fellow Baltic states Latvia and Estonia have felt vulnerable since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its backing of separatists in fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 9,750 people since April 2014.

Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his expressed desire for warmer relations with Moscow have added to the Baltic states' concerns.

On February 9, Grybauskaite said the Baltic states will seek additional security measures from the United States and NATO ahead of a large annual Russian military exercise, called Zapad (West), that is due to be held in September.

In a move ordered by the Obama administration in 2014 to show support for U.S. allies, about 3,500 U.S. soldiers have been sent to eastern NATO members as part of a NATO deployment.

In his letter, Trump also praised Lithuania's efforts increase defense spending "to achieve NATO's agreed benchmark."

Trump has spoken often of the need for NATO members to contribute more financially to the alliance, raising concerns by some countries about the level of his commitment to common security needs.

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Trump Expresses Support For Ukraine In Letter To Lithuanian Leader - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

CARLTON WILKINSON, CORRESPONDENT 10:11 a.m. ET Feb. 10, 2017

The annual Asbury Park Music and Film Festival will be taking over the city April 20th through April 23rd. Ryan Ross

At the State Theatre, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine will perform Antonin Dvoraks Carnival Overture, Sergei Prokofievs Piano Concerto No. 3, and Dmitri Shostakovichs Symphony No. 5.(Photo: COURTESY OF NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF UKRAINE)

An Eastern European ensemble founded a century ago will be performing Feb. 19 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick in a program of early-20th century masterpieces from Russia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

Led by the American conductor Theodore Kuchar, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine will perform Antonin Dvoraks Carnival Overture, Sergei Prokofievs Piano Concerto No. 3, and Dmitri Shostakovichs Symphony No. 5.

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Born in New York City, Kuchar is of Ukrainian descent and previously held the post of artistic director of the NSOU; he is currently conductor laureate. He returns to the podium regularly to lead the ensemble.

Kuchar also served as the director of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra) and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela. He has more than 100 recordings on Naxos and other labels to his credit, and recently concluded a 20-city tour of the U.S. with the Czech Symphony Orchestra.

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The soloist for the Prokofiev Piano Concerto will be Alexei Grynyuk, a native of Kiev, Ukraine, who has recently performed as soloist with the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, Brighton Philharmonic and Krakow Philharmonic. He also performed Liszts B-minor Sonata and piano concertos as part of the composers bicentennial in Kiev.

The program features three composers who were internationally famous in their own lifetimes and who have become so entrenched in global orchestral repertoire that they appear to us somewhat disassociated from their national roots.

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While technically Russian, Prokofiev was born in the Ukraine part of the Russian Empire at the time.

Both he and Shostakovich lived and worked during the Soviet era, both of them struggling in their own ways to maintain careers under the capricious cruelty and censorship of Stalin. Though apolitical for the most part, Prokofievs career, personal life and legacy have seemed inextricably linked to the rule of the Soviet dictator. He even died the same day in the same hour in fact as Stalin.

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The composers funeral was small and absent of flowers because the dictator, even in death, dominated. All the winter flowers had been scooped up as part of the required mourning.

Shostakovich is probably the most famous of the Soviet-era composers now, but his work was purposely ignored in the West during the height of the Cold War, as he was seen as a Stalinist.

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Much of this stems from the misunderstanding of the Symphony No. 5, which he wrote as a reaction to Stalins severe criticism of his music, which caused Shostakovich to fear he would be arrested or worse.

As a result, the composer withdrew his newly completed Symphony No. 4 before it could be premiered. The next work, the Symphony No. 5, was in a simpler style with broad melodies and a clear emotional language.

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The piece bears the inscription intended to appease the authorities (and hopefully save his life): A Soviet artists reply to just criticism. Privately however, the composer is reported to have said that the music was an emotional response to Stalin and the finale, especially, should be heard as a satire, the forced rejoicing of a slave under the suffering and forced allegiance that Stalin exacted.

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At the time, however, the official censors and leading critical thinkers including those in the West found it a convincing testament of loyalty to the Soviet leadership.

The performance will be 3 p.m. Feb. 19 at the State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave. Tickets start at $35 and are available through http://www.statetheatrenj.org or by calling 732-246-7469.

Carlton Wilkinson, a composer, music professor, writer and editor, has a doctorate in music. Follow him on Twitter @CarltonTSC, email him at carlton.j.wilkinson@verizon.net or write him c/o Entertainment, Asbury Park Press, 3600 Highway 66, Neptune, NJ 07754-1551.

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Ukraine orchestra coming to New Brunswick - Asbury Park Press