Mediaboss Marketing

Ukraine may have to leave the fate of Crimea to future generations, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, a day after the president said the country cant afford to take back its rebel-held areas by force.

The government in Kiev and its allies have condemned the March annexation of the Black Sea peninsula by Russian President Vladimir Putins government. The U.S. and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russian companies, individuals and industries that have compounded an almost 50 percent drop in oil prices to tip Russias economy toward recession.

Theres no quick and simple answer to how to bring Crimea back to Ukraine, Yatsenyuk said today at a year-end news conference in Kiev. Crimea was, is, and always will be Ukrainian territory. If God helps us while we are alive, we will be able to reinstate control over Crimea. If not, our children or grandchildren will do this.

Ukrainian officials are focusing on diplomacy to secure an enduring truce in what has grown into the worst dispute between Russia and its Cold War foes since the fall of the Iron Curtain. The government has paused a military offensive started in April aimed at driving the pro-Russian separatists from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where fighting has killed more than 4,700 people, according to UN estimates.

The Black Sea peninsula, where Russia maintains a naval base, was Russian territory until 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred it to Ukraine, a move Putin called a mistake that needed to be rectified. Putin has called Crimea an inalienable part of Russia and this month likened it to his countrys Jerusalem.

He took over Crimea following the ouster of former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country in February after more than 100 people died in clashes with police during anti-government protests in Kiev. After the annexation, armed separatists occupied government buildings in other parts of Ukraine and clashed with government forces in fighting that evolved into the current conflict.

President Petro Poroshenko said yesterday that Ukraine doesnt have the resources to mount an offensive against the separatist and doing so would risk an all-out confrontation with Russia, which the government says is supplying the rebels with weapons, arms and fighters. While Putin has declared respect for the militants aim of leaving Ukraine and joining Russia, hes denied involvement.

Theres no military solution in Donbas, Poroshenko said, referring to the area where pro-Russian rebels are pitted against government troops. If someone wants to have a go -- take up weapons and face the bullets of the Russian military machine, the strongest on the continent -- lets see how that ends.

Poroshenko said hell meet Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in the Kazakh capital Astana on Jan. 15. Talks between separatists and representatives of Ukraines military will also continue on Dec. 31 in Luhansk, a news website run by the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic reported yesterday.

The conflict has roiled markets in Ukraine and Russia. Ukraines hryvnia was little changed at 15.82 against the dollar at 4:43 p.m. in Kiev. The yield on Ukraines 2017 dollar bond jumped 3.8 percentage points to 33.832 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ruble gained 3.4 percent to 56.35 against the dollar. Its down 42 percent this year, becoming the worlds second-worst performing currency after the hryvnia.

Originally posted here:
Ukraine May Leave Crimeas Fate to Next Generation, Premier Says