Archive for the ‘Ukraine’ Category

Ukraine parliament restores NATO membership as strategic target – DefenseNews.com

WARSAW, PolandThe Ukrainian parliament has voted to restore NATO membership as the countrys strategic foreign policy objective.

The Verkhovna Rada passed a bill to amend the Ukrainian laws on national security and internal and foreign policies. The new laws hereby enact Ukraines commitment to achieve NATO membership strategically by having made it legally binding, the parliament said in a statement on June 8.

Passed by a majority of 276 MPs out of the 450 elected lawmakers, the bill represents a shift from Ukraines previous non-aligned policy. The move is expected to stimulate increased military cooperation between Ukraine and NATO allies. It is also likely to foster procurements of Western-made weapons and military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and spur partnerships between Ukraines defense industry and foreign players.

"What we heard today is a unanimous support for Ukraine in such a difficult time. We highly evaluate our cooperation with NATO in all spheres. We are very grateful for the support," Groysman said February 9.

Meanwhile, Kievs strengthened commitment to joining NATO is also expected to further strain its relations with Moscow. Last March marked the third anniversary of Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimean peninsula that followed a military intervention.

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Amid Russia tensions, US Army continues to build up Ukrainian forces, training center – ArmyTimes.com

A combat training center that U.S. troops helped establish in Ukraine plans to host brigade-sized rotations beginning in 2018, officials said.

Building up the NATO-run, interoperable combat training center is part of an overall effort to boost Ukrainian forces in the face of Russian aggression.

The U.S. Army has steadily ratcheted up its activities across Europe in a bid to reassure Americas NATO allies since Russias invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2014. One of the most visible efforts is Operation Atlantic Resolve, a series of exercises that has grown to span multiple countries including the three Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Another piece of the reassurance effort has been a near-constant rotation of U.S. troops into Ukraine to train that country's forces.

On Wednesday, Col. Nick Ducich, commander of the California National Guard's 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, spoke to reporters about his tenure as commander ofJoint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine and his soldiers' efforts to boost the combat training center and Ukrainian troops.

Ducich deployed to Ukraine in 2015 with 54 of his soldiers to train the Ukrainian Ground Forces near Yavoriv.

In the 14 months that Ducich was in charge of the JMTG-U, he said the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian forces grew.

I see the Ukraine Ground Forces getting stronger each day, he told reporters during a media round table at the Pentagon.

The California Guard soldiers joined troops from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, and multinational partners from Canada, Lithuania, Poland and Britain.

Ducich said there were about 400 Ukrainians staffing the training center when he left in December, and the goal is to have it entirely manned by Ukrainians.

The center, developed in 2015 and still in its infant stages, can accommodate a battalion, he said. It cant be compared to training centers in the United States yet because it hasnt had a comparable amount of time or money put into it.

It will take a while to develop that same edge that U.S. training centers have with opposing forces, he said.

The colonel said the Ukrainian forces are playing catch-up when it comes to defense capabilities because theyve had many obstacles to overcome.

Theres been over 20-plus years of neglect as far as funding, not just soldiers but training and infrastructure and equipment, Ducich said.

Now Ukraine is mobilizing its defense industries, ramping up its capabilities and improving its output of military officers, he said, adding that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his goal is defense reform by 2020.

By 2018, the combat training center is projected to be able to accommodate a brigade-sized rotation with simulations and devices to mimic real-world scenarios, Ducich said.

The Ukrainian military is also working on retaining experienced combat soldiers.

Theyre starting to do that with pay scales, conditions of living, he said. What were seeing now is theyre taking some of those team leaders that have success and optimizing them as instructors [at the training center].

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Amid Russia tensions, US Army continues to build up Ukrainian forces, training center - ArmyTimes.com

Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine – New York Times


New York Times
Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine
New York Times
KIEV, Ukraine Ukrainians have long struggled with fake news from Russia, but last week, they discovered something even more insidious: a fake journalist. The man was tall and dapper. He wore a dark suit and spoke with a French accent. When he met ...

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Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine - New York Times

A Good Spring For Ukraine! – HuffPost

Ukrainians are finally starting to see that spring has arrived following a string of positive developments.

Its the Ukrainian national habit to complain, but there has been a lot of good news lately, said Ukraines Deputy Minister of Trade Nataliya Mykolska in an interview while on a trade mission to Canada. Naftogaz won the Stockholm arbitration case against Gazprom on its merits. The importance is that we can buy gas from Russia at market prices and not at their inflated prices.

Still to be decided by arbitration is Naftogazs counterclaim against Gazprom, alleging overcharges of $30.3 billion.

Interestingly, this good news, and more, was circulated on the Facebook page of Vlad Rashkovan, an official with the IMF. Stop saying that in Ukraine, nothing changes, he wrote inviting others to join in. Look at the results of the last two months.

Indeed, progress is underway. Here is his shortened list of fifteen leaps forward, followed by a few others:

June 1: Canada ratified the free trade agreement with Ukraine.

May 31: The international arbitration court in Stockholm rejected Gazproms controversial take or pay claim, ruling in Naftogazs favor.

May 30: The Dutch senate approved ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement.

May 30: The state e-auction system Prozorro sold the assets of bankrupt banks for one billon hryvnia, preparing for participation in the auctions of small privatizations.

May 17: The European Union approved Ukraines visa-free agreement.

May 13: The Eurovision Song Contest held in Ukraine was recognized by the Eurovision board as a success.

May 3: Ukraine rose thirty points on the Global Open Data Index, besting most EU countries. The country is now ranked as the twenty-fourth most open, after Sweden, Germany, and Hong Kong.

April-May: as a part of the currency liberalization strategy, the National Bank of Ukraine canceled a series of capital controls requirements.

April 26: President Petro Poroshenko signed a law easing the merger and capitalization procedures for small banks.

April 19: The Cabinet of Ministers approved financing for dredging a new grain terminal currently built by MV-Cargo company, which is a joint venture of Cargill. The total amount of investments is $150 million, and is also financed by the EBRD and IFC.

April 14: Poroshenko signed a law on a three-year state budget process.

April 13: The Ukrainian parliament approved a law on the electricity market, which introduced a series of important reforms to liberalize the countrys energy market.

April 3: The International Monetary Fund agreed to release the next tranche of $1 billion, bringing total disbursements to $8.38 billion.

April 3: As a follow-up of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-funded project, a law on financial restructuring and the secretariat for financial restructuring of corporations has become operational.

April 1: The Ministry of Finance launched an automatic electronic register of VAT reimbursement.

Its an impressive list. Here are four more:

Clearly, more people are realizing that Ukraine is strategically important as the largest country in Europe with great potential. Ukraine is the worlds fourth most educated; the third largest IT outsource nation in the world after the United States and India; an agricultural giant which is the largest exporter of sunflower oil, second largest grain exporter and third largest exporter of corn, and will be an economic powerhouse once it overthrows its corrupt elites and defeats Russia. Millions of Ukrainians who have left, and billions of dollars, will flood into the country if reformers win the federal election in 2019.

The struggle has been long and slow. But culturally Ukrainians have chosen Europe over the corrupt Soviet system. And while many of us would want change more quickly the fact is that nothing, and no one, can stop its destiny.

Diane Francis is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Editor at Large with the National Post in Canada, a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, and author of ten books.

First published Atlantic Council June 7, 2017

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Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow’s Fingerprints – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
KIEV, UkraineA botched assassination attempt in Kiev is providing a glimpse into what officials here say is a string of killings orchestrated by the Kremlin, exposing a deadly underside of Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have ...

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Ukraine Says Botched Killing Has Moscow's Fingerprints - Wall Street Journal (subscription)