Ukraine plans to request Ukrainian Magnitsky list, drawing Russian protest

The Ukrainian government is planning to request that
Western governments draft a list of sanctions against Russian officials for
violating the rights of Ukrainian political prisoners, Justice Minister Pavlo
Petrenko said on Aug. 13. “We will approach our international partners with the
proposal of forming a separate list of sanctions analogous to the Magnitsky
list, which will practically be a list of those individuals responsible for
kidnapping, detaining, abusing and torturing Ukrainian citizens who are
political prisoners on Russian territory,” he said. On Aug. 10, Ukraine
submitted a complaint to the European Court for Human Rights against Russia for
violating the rights of its Ukrainian political prisoners, which Petrenko
referred to as the first legal document that outlines mass human rights
violations against Ukraine’s political prisoners.

In response to Petrenko’s announcement, the Russian
Foreign Ministry described Ukraine’s plans as a gross violation of
international law and a violation of the presumption of innocence principle
given the alleged crimes haven’t been proven in a court of law. The proposal is
“the latest attempt to introduce unilateral forcible measures, which violates
international law and practices of civilized interstate communication,” said
ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The U.S. Congress is planning a new round of sanctions
against the Russian government that will include prohibitions on U.S. citizens
acquiring Russian bond issues, as well as prohibitions and freezes on U.S.
dollar-denominated bank accounts held by Russian state banks, as revealed by a
draft published on its website. Bill S.3336 was introduced by U.S. Sen. Lindsey
Graham on Aug. 1. The bill also proposes strengthening restrictions on
ownership structures used to acquire real estate. U.S. title insurance
companies will be required to submit information on beneficiaries that acquire
expensive U.S. real estate.

U.S. President Trump criticized several provisions of
the 2019 defense bill that he signed on Aug. 13, particularly four out of eight
provisions that apply to Russia, reported the usatoday.com news site on Aug.
15. In a written statement hours after the signing, Trump said these provisions
undermine the president’s role “as the sole representative of the nation in
foreign affairs.” In particular, he cited prohibitions on using federal funds
to recognize Russian control over Crimea and military cooperation with Russia.
He also cited requirements to report to U.S. Congress on steps taken to address
Russian violations of the Open Skies Treaty and New START Treaty on nuclear
wepaons.

Zenon Zawada: From these
events, it’s apparent that the U.S. will continue to move forward with
pressuring the Russian government to withdraw from its military occupation of
Ukraine. It’s also apparent that Trump feels constricted by these plans in his
efforts to find common points of agreement with the Russian government. This
indicates that a healthy tension exists between the neo-conservative hawks and
the isolationist wing of the Republican Party, which will prevent any drastic
steps in one direction of the other.

One of these neo-con hawks, U.S. National Security
Adviser John Bolton, will be meeting with Russian diplomats in Geneva next
week, as announced by the Kremlin, the Reuters news agency said on Aug. 15. It
has not yet been announced whether the meeting will be before or after Bolton’s
visit to Ukraine. So whatever foreign policy deals Trump might be wanting to
cut with Russia after his July meeting with Putin (and possibly at Ukraine’s
expense), the Ukrainians can rest assured that Bolton will serve as a
restraining factor. They can also rest assured that Western governments will
respond positively to a Ukrainian Magnitsky list.