Russia asks Ukraine to restrict EU trade

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin confirmed on Dec. 3 that Russian diplomats requested Ukraine’s cooperation in restricting trade with certain EU countries, as reported by the eurointegration.com.ua news site. “According to the Russian mentality, we’re supposed to support Russian trade embargos and restrictions – for example, to Poland and Lithuania – but at the same time, Ukraine is supposed to begin fulfilling agreements and become part of the European market,” he said, referring to the Jan. 1 launch of the Ukraine-EU Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Diplomats representing Ukraine, Russia and the EU met on Dec. 1 in Brussels.

At the same talks, Russia asked Ukraine to postpone for 10 years technical and sanitary standards of the Ukraine-EU free trade area, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters that day. “Russia’s goal is to deny the Ukraine’s possibility to develop and deny the ability of Ukrainian goods to be competitive and easily win over other markets,” he said. The Ukrainian delegation rejected this proposal, Yatsenyuk said.

Instead, the Cabinet will submit to parliament legislation to enable the government to impose economic sanctions that directly reflect those imposed by Russia, which will cost the Ukrainian economy up to USD 600 mln, Yatsenyuk told reporters in Brussels. The EU was Ukraine’s biggest trading partner in 9M15, he said. About 33 percent of Ukraine’s trade is currently with the EU, compared to 12.8% with Russia.

Zenon Zawada: It’s apparent the Russian government still has a scenario worked out in which the Ukrainian government, unable to bear the burdens of economic and military warfare, will cave into Russian demands, sooner or later. It also has a scenario of regime change in Kyiv, in which early parliamentary elections could produce a Russian-friendly leader.

While Russia still has some ideological strongholds in Kharkiv and Odesa, the rest of Ukraine is committed to the West and is willing to bear the current warfare. In fact, this Ukrainian majority is only dissatisfied that the current Ukrainian government hasn’t taken more decisive measures to fight the war and modernize the country for this struggle. The Russian government is working to exploit this dissatisfaction, as well, to its advantage.