Ukraine Cabinet limits goods for trade with occupied Donbas

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a resolution on March 1 restricting the list of goods that will be allowed for trade between Ukraine and the occupied districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, its website reported the same day. The list will be limited to critically important goods, such as humanitarian aid, coal and steel industry commodities. Previously, the government had allowed extensive trade, only issuing a list of goods that were forbidden to exchange with the occupied districts. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman urged the public, particularly activists currently participating in a trade blocakde, to enforce the new list.

Alexander Paraschiy: The Cabinet’s resolution is a response to the blockade of railway connections with occupied territories, which is being implemented by Ukrainian MPs and paramilitary activists, who are dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the war. It’s a timid attempt to find compromise and partially satisfy the demands of the activists. So far, it does not look like this will be enough to unblock the routes. The activists have demanded a complete halt to trade with the occupied territories and the freeing of all hostages kept there. The blockade, intensified since February 10, has already caused a stoppage of steel mills in the occupied districts and the threat of five Ukrainian thermal power plants exhausting their supply of coal, which is received from the occupied districts.