5 June 2014
U.S. President Barack Obama pledged USD 5 mln in military supplies, such as body armor, night vision goggles and communications equipment, to Ukraine during his June 4 meeting with Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko. “The Ukrainian people made a wise decision in someone to lead them through this period,” he said. “I have been deeply impressed by his vision, partly because of his experience as a businessman.” Until now, the U.S. had only provided non-military aid, such as clothes, food and radios, the guardian.com reported. The two leaders also discussed ways Ukraine can achieve energy independence from Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also spent time talking with Poroshenko on June 4, privately urging him to provide evidence of Russian involvement with separatists with which to confront Russian officials, the New York Times reported. Kerry plans to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Paris today. The same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he hasn’t seen evidence of the involvement of Russian soldiers in the war in eastern Ukraine. “There are no forces, no Russian instructors in southeastern Ukraine,” he told French media.
The G7 summit to occur on June 4-5 in Brussels will become a serious signal of the world’s support for Poroshenko, Obama said, as reported by the Reuters news agency. For the first time in its 17-year history, the G7 will meet without the participation of the Russian Federation in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea. Ukraine is scheduled to be the main topic of discussion on June 4. They will demand that Russia recognize Ukraine’s newly elected president, begin direct negotiations with the Ukrainian government and cease its destabilization campaign in Ukraine’s eastern regions, the AFP news agency reported.
Instead of attending the summit, Putin will attend ceremonies on June 6 commemorating the 70-year anniversary of the Normandy landing alongside the leaders of Germany, France and Great Britain. A meeting between Poroshenko and Putin isn’t planned during the June 6 commemoration in France but their paths could cross, Putin Press Secretary Dmitry Pyeskov said on June 4, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency. “In the course of commemorative events, in one way or another the leaders will be in one group, so contact can’t be ruled out,” he said.
Poroshenko will offer his plan for stabilization in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine after his June 7 inauguration, he said after meeting with Obama. He also hoped to achieve dialogue with Putin in Normandy. “It will be very symbolic if we’re able to begin the process of peaceful resolution in Ukraine in Normandy,” he said.
Ukraine can sign the economic portion of its EU Association Agreement at the end of June alongside Georgia and Moldova at a ceremony in Brussels, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told a Kyiv press conference on June 4. Several technical steps remain but everything can be prepared by the end of June, he said.
Poroshenko’s press-service issued a June 4 statement that he is ready to sign the economic portion of the Association Agreement and launch the free trade area immediately after his inauguration. EU Council Chair Herman Van Rompuy told a June 4 press conference in Brussels that the EU and Ukraine will sign the economic portion on June 27 “at the latest,” the UNIAN news agency reported.
Zenon Zawada: Ukraine has become a battleground between Russia and the West, which will hurt the economy this year. Therefore, the free trade area will offer minimal tangible benefit to the Ukrainian economy in 2014 or 2015. Its greater significance is the introduction and implementation of EU standards to Ukrainian producers and Ukrainian state agencies in regulating trade, which will have a positive effect on Ukraine’s economy in the mid-term.
Obama’s offer of military supplies, amid growing violence in Ukraine’s eastern regions, indicates the conflict is escalating despite statements calling for dialogue. We don’t see a de-escalation in the conflict in sight, which means we can expect ongoing violence in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts for months.