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EU Presents Ukraine Package, Freezes 'Misappropriated' Assets

March 05, 2014
by RFE/RL

The European Commission has presented an economic aid package for Ukraine that is worth a total of 11 billion euros ($15 billion) over the next few years.

The package includes a 1.6 billion-euro loan, a 1.4 billion-euro grant, 3 billion euros in fresh credit from the European Investment Bank for the period 2014-16, and 5 billion euros from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the package hinged on Ukraine signing a deal with the International Monetary Fund and that more than 1 billion euros could become available for Ukraine in the next couple of weeks.

The deal is expected to get a green light from the European Parliament and EU heads of state and government that are meeting in Brussels on March 6 to discuss further measures on Ukraine.

Sanctions List Includes Yanukovych

In related news, the European Union has decided to freeze the assets of 18 Ukrainian citizens responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds. The list of names will be published in the EU's official journal on March 6, at which point the sanctions will be effective for the coming 12 months.

Brussels has not yet confirmed the identities of the individuals, but EU sources tell RFE/RL that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his closest advisers are included on the list.

The sanctions also contain provisions facilitating the recovery of the frozen funds but do not include a visa ban, meaning that these people can still travel to the EU.

The European Union initially struck a political agreement to impose sanctions on people responsible for the violence during Ukraine's civil unrest, but the move was never implemented due to the fast-changing situation in the country.

Demonstrators Face Off In Donetsk

In eastern Ukraine, pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian demonstrators have taken up positions on opposite sides of Lenin Square in the city of Donetsk. An RFE/RL correspondent said the groups were separated from each other by riot police, while cars with Ukrainian flags hanging from the windows were driving around the square.

Some of the pro-Russian demonstrators, who are massed under the statue of Vladimir Lenin, have attempted to seize some of the flags from the passing vehicles.

Earlier, pro-Russian demonstrators stormed the administration building in the eastern city of Donetsk, breaking through a police cordon and raising the Russian flag from a window on the second floor.

The demonstrators had occupied the building for several days but earlier on March 5 police convinced them to evacuate, saying there had been a bomb threat. About 100 policemen then surrounded the building as more than 1,000 pro-Russian demonstrators stood several meters away.

There was a rally of pro-Maidan demonstrator planned for later this evening. It was not clear if that will now happen.

Meanwhile, reports say Russian forces have seized part of a Ukrainian missile-defense unit in Crimea. Interfax news agency said two missile-defense battalions were seized.

The AFP news agency quoted a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying the command post and control center of the base in Evpatoria remained in the control of Ukrainian forces, however.

Yatsenyuk: More Autonomy For Crimea

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that Crimea must remain part of the country but that the southern region may be granted more powers.

In his first sit-down interview since taking office, Yatsenyuk also blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the current crisis. He told AP that the current Ukrainian government was legitimate and said Russian actions in Crimea were unconstitutional and 'resemble...a coup supported by the Russian government.'

Yatsenyuk also denied a report that Ukraine was negotiating with the United States for the deployment of U.S. missile-defense systems in exchange for financial help. 'We have no talks with the government of the United States of America on any kind of deployment of any military forces,' he said.

Yatsenyuk's comments come as Russian forces continue to maintain their de facto occupation of Crimea.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to hold talks in Paris amid diplomatic efforts to ease tensions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Lavrov, speaking in Madrid before the talks, blamed the current crisis on Western support for the Ukrainian antigovernment protesters, whose actions he called a 'brutal violation.'

'We are convinced that the root of all the problems is, in fact, that the international community did not manage jointly to react to the antigovernment protests that were conducted in brutal violation of Ukrainian laws by armed people. Quite the opposite, these protests received support and were even encouraged,' Lavrov said.

He said Moscow cannot order soldiers in Crimea back to base because they are 'self-defense' forces and are not regular Russian troops.

'We are not giving them any orders. They don't receive any orders from us. With regard to the servicemen of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, they are staying at the sites of permanent deployment. Yes, there were additional special measures of elevated alert for ensuring the security of the Black Sea Fleet,' Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said it is up to the Ukrainian and Crimean authorities to decide whether to invite international observers into Crimea.

Seeking Peace

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya, meanwhile, said Kyiv wants a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Deshchytsya, speaking after talks in Paris with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, said Ukraine wants 'neighborly relations' with Russia.

Fabius, talking to French radio ahead of the Kerry-Lavrov meeting, said Russia risks sanctions if there is no deescalation of the current tensions: 'There will be sanctions tomorrow -- targeting visas, existing economic negotiations, or the assets of a certain number of oligarchs -- if there is no de-escalation.'

The United States and Britain said Lavrov declined efforts to have him meet Deshchytsya in Paris on March 5 for a meeting of the so-called Budapest Memorandum group -- which involves Washington, London, Moscow, and Kyiv -- but that they would try again.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and BBC

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/us-russia-to-hold- talks-amid-crimea-tension/25285892.html

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EU Presents Ukraine Package, Freezes 'Misappropriated' Assets