Section: Voice of America (USA)
War Heroes, Activists to Shape New-look Ukraine Parliament
Out will go the bodyguards and mistresses, in are likely to come the street activists and war veterans: Ukraine’s next parliament will be pro-Western and strongly nationalist, and it won’t be to Russia’s liking. Candidate lists for the October 26 elections show how personal favorites backed by old school powerbrokers in the...
Ukraine, Russia, EU Energy Chiefs Meet to Finalize Gas Deal
Russia and Ukraine aim to resolve an impasse over natural gas supplies on Tuesday as their energy ministers meet in Brussels for talks brokered by the European Union’s energy commissioner. Citing unpaid bills worth more than $5 billion, Russia cut off gas flows to Kyiv in mid-June, adding to tensions sparked by Russia’s annexation of...
EU Targets Ministers, UAE Firm in Latest Syria Sanctions
The European Union imposed sanctions on Tuesday on 12 Syrian government ministers, two senior military figures and a United Arab Emirates company it accused of helping supply oil to Syria. The moves were part of a gradual tightening of EU sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has clung to power despite a...
Russia Intensifies Food Restrictions from EU
Russia announced it will further restrict its food imports from the European Union on Tuesday in response to Western sanctions over its actions in Ukraine. The country’s agriculture supervisory agency announced Monday that “temporary restrictions” will go into effect on European beef and pork offal (entrails and internal...
Russia Bans Imports of EU Meat Products
Citing health concerns, Russia on Monday announced new sanctions on meat products from the European Union, widening its restrictions on Western food products. Its federal supervisory agency for agriculture, the Rosselkhoznadzor, said “temporary restrictions” will go into effect Tuesday on European beef and pork offal – the entrails...
Rights Group Cites Isolated Summary Executions in E. Ukraine
A leading international human rights group says that both Russia-backed separatists and pro-Kyiv forces have been responsible for “isolated incidents” of summary killings in eastern Ukraine, but that Russian media and authorities have exaggerated the scale of such crimes committed by the latter. In a briefing published Monday, Amnesty...
Russian FM Sees No Quick Fix to US Ties
A low point has been reached in relations between Russia and the United States since the start of the Ukraine crisis, with no remedy in sight, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. Criticizing U.S. foreign policy at a public lecture at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Lavrov expressed hope that ties would start improving. “There is always...
Ukraine’s Euromaidan Reforms Reveal Deep Divisions
With eastern Ukraine crippled by conflict between government forces and pro-Russia separatists, many democratic activists in Kyiv paint the struggle as having given birth to a new unified state. They identify the call to resist what is widely perceived to be Russia’s aggression as having brought together a disparate mix of Ukrainian- and...
Eastern Ukraine Fighting Kills 4 Civilians
Four civilians were killed and nine wounded by shrapnel during fighting on Saturday and Sunday in eastern Ukraine’s separatist stronghold city of Donetsk, local officials said. Pro-Russian rebels and government forces have continued to clash on the city’s outskirts despite a Sept. 5 cease-fire accord that has generally contained...
Ukraine Details Interim Gas Deal with Russia
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko says a preliminary energy deal reached with Russia will require Kyiv to pay $385 per cubic meter of natural gas through the winter months. Poroshenko disclosed details of the deal to Ukraine media on Saturday. The rate is nearly $100 less than Moscow was charging Ukraine in June, when it stopped all...
