Russian Federation to ban imports of all Ukrainian food products in 2016
Ukraine should initiate talks on restructuring its debt to Russia itself, the Russian Finance Ministry said. “A great challenge to European unity is ahead of us”. Washington has adopted similar measures. European leaders will reevaluate the sanctions in January. Any decision must be backed by all 28 member states. She also said the reason why Kyiv refuses to pay its obligations: Expenditures of Ukraine is limited to the program of the global monetary Fund, adding that the IMF is ready to help Kyiv to pay the debt Moscow.
The Minister of Finance of Ukraine Natalia Jaresko allowed for the possibility of default of Ukraine in case of non-payment of this debt.
However, a source told Reuters on Tuesday Ukraine’s private creditors were unlikely to allow Kyiv to accept Moscow’s proposal.
Ukrainian Deputy Economic Development Minister Nataliya Mykolska was quoted by the Interfax news agency last week as saying such a ban would cut Ukrainian exports by as much as $205 million.
However, Ukraine has remained bullish on the issue.
“We stand side-by-side with French people, the President of France and the French Government in the fight against terrorism”, Poroshenko said.
Ukraine will thus face the same barriers as the EU.
Moscow is preparing to mark the second anniversary of the Euro-Maidan in Kyiv “in its own way”, by unleashing a new disinformation campaign against Ukraine via Europe as part of its continuing campaign to destabilize Ukraine and restore Russian influence there, according to Andrey Latynin, writing on November 12 in Novyi Region. On the other hand, this is a condition, far-fetched, of course, and we all understand, but these are conditions which let Europeans prolong the sanctions.
“Sanctions are an essential tool for holding Russian Federation accountable: They must be rolled over until Minsk is fully implemented”.
US resolve has also stayed firm, officials say. The European Commission president apparently wrote the letter after last weekend’s summit of the Group of 20 wealthy nations in Turkey.
Vice President Joe Biden will make his fifth visit to Ukraine in December, and the USA recently announced a $1 billion loan guarantee pending certain reforms.
Alarmed by Russia’s seizure of Crimea a year ago and support for pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania along with Poland are a few of Europe’s most hawkish countries on relations with Moscow.
They noted Schulz had frozen Russia cooperation pending Minsk implementation and following a Russian visa ban on several MEPs.