EU to stand by Ukraine trade deal at summit despite Russia-draft
By Robin Emmott
BRUSSELS, May 5 (Reuters) - The European Union will implement a free-trade pact with Ukraine from next year despite Russian pressure for another delay, according to a draft statement prepared for a summit with six of the bloc's eastern neighbours this month in Riga.
The joint declaration, which is likely to antagonise Moscow, commits to the deal from Jan. 1, 2016, a date already a year later than planned as Russia seeks to oppose European efforts to integrate Ukraine and move it out of Moscow's sphere of orbit.
Russia is pushing for the deal to be postponed by at least another year, according to a Ukrainian official, but the EU is insisting there can be no further delay.
Although the EU is willing to discuss Russian concerns, implementation "will be a top priority of the EU and the partners concerned for the coming years," the draft said.
The deal is at the heart of tensions that have grown from a tug-of-war over influence in Kiev to sanctions, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and concern among some in the West about a new Cold War.
But aside from the EU's show of support for Ukraine, the May 21-22 Eastern Partnership summit will offer little for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova, according to the draft, as EU governments lower their ambitions for fear of further provoking the Kremlin.
Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine signed association agreements with the European Union last year and want to join the European Union. But the draft made no mention of their aspirations.
Instead, it said that neither Georgia nor Ukraine will immediately be granted visa-free travel to the European Union, as Tbilisi and Kiev had hoped, and that they need reforms to be able to enjoy the kind of treatment Moldova has obtained.
The tepid tone was far from the ambitions of the last Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in 2013, where the European Union sought to encourage a historic shift away from Russia by the six former Soviet republics.
Brussels now appears to accept that Armenia has chosen to side with Moscow after the country decided in 2013 to join a customs union led by Russia, its former Soviet master and its biggest foreign investor. "It is for the EU and its sovereign partners to decide on how they want to proceed with their bilateral relations," the draft said.
Russia: EU 'Silent' About Ukraine Violations Of Minsk Accord
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the European Union remains "silent" about potential cease-fire violations by government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Lavrov, speaking after talks with his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz on May 5, said that "Brussels and other EU capitals are under the impression that the Minsk accords should be fulfilled only by Russia."
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) last week released a report saying that both the pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military have apparently violated the cease-fire, for a total of more than 20 times.
Officials from Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE are expected to convene for an emergency meeting in Minsk on May 6 to discuss the implementation of the deal reached there in February.
The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have died in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since April last year.
Based on reporting by dpa and Interfax
One killed, 4 wounded in latest Ukraine clashes
Kiev, May 5, 2015 (AFP) -- A Ukrainian army volunteer was killed and three soldiers were wounded in fighting in the country's east, Kiev said Tuesday, while pro-Russian rebels said one of their fighters was injured.
A volunteer died from his wounds on Monday after being hit by 120mm mortars fired by rebels at Ukrainian fighters who are stationed near the ruined airport of rebel hub Donetsk, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said.
A volunteer battalion that formally joined the Ukrainian armed forces in March claimed the man killed was one of their fighters.
However, the Ukrainian army said he was a volunteer with the army, but denied he had a combat role.
Ukraine military's spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that three soldiers were wounded in fighting.
"Yesterday the situation stabilised somewhat... The enemy reduced the number of its provocations," he said, while adding that the hostilities were continuing in breach of the terms a peace deal reached in Minsk in February.
"The village of Shyrokine remains the main hot point in fighting between our forces and the rebels," Lysenko said, referring to a village on the outskirts of Mariuopol, the largest city in the conflict zone still in government hands.
"The fighting went on almost all day yesterday," he said.
The separatist leaders also said one of their fighters was wounded, their official agency reported.
The Ukrainian army has been fighting pro-Russian militants for more than a year in the country's east in a conflict in which more than 6,100 have been killed.
In February, a peace deal reached in Minsk with mediation from France and Germany called for the withdrawal of heavy arms of more than 100mm calibre from the frontline.
In recent days, fighting has intensified, however.
NATO To Briefly Move Command HQ To Romania From Naples
A top NATO commander says the alliance will briefly move a joint force command headquarter to Romania.
The Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) based in Naples, Italy, will relocate to Cincu, in central Romania, for 12 days next month to support a NATO exercise involving 1,000 troops from 21 NATO states, said its commander, U.S. Admiral Mark Ferguson.
Speaking during a two-day visit to Bucharest, Ferguson said the move, which had been planned for one year, "will be the first time a NATO Joint Force Command headquarters has deployed to Romania."
Some 350 JFC staff members will test their ability to command and control a multinational exercise from a forward position.
Ferguson said the deployment had been planned for one year.
"We are concerned with the deployment of advanced missile systems into Crimea by the Russians and the deployment of advanced fighter aircraft and the increase of forces there, which we think threaten the security of the Black Sea," he told the media.
He said the U.S.-led missile defense shield in southern Romania, which has been criticized by Russia, is intended to defend NATO from attacks from the south.