US threatens visa ban against Ukraine officials over Tymoshenko

The United States Senate adopted a resolution on Saturday that condemned the persecution and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and called for a visa ban against those responsible for her imprisonment and mistreatment. The statement called for Tymoshenko’s immediate release and said her continued detention threatened to jeopardize ties between the U.S. and Ukraine. In response, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the resolution as nothing more than an instrument to stir opinion by allies of Tymoshenko.

Brad Wells: The US resolution, in our view, is unlikely to have a significant impact on the activities of the Ukrainian government. Current officials are simply too entrenched at this point, especially with just over a month left ahead of key parliamentary elections. Looking ahead, though, both the European Union and US have set the tone for relations with Ukraine after the October 28 election. If it is considered to fall short of international democratics standards and there continues to be no change in the status of Ukraine’s “political prisoners,” then we fully expect the EU and US to follow up on their threats with solid sanctions against Ukrainian officials.