From our news desk:
IMF, World Bank Say Ukraine's Anticorruption Efforts Threatened
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) say they are concerned about attacks on Ukrainian anticorruption institutions.
In a December 7 statement, IMF chief Christine Lagarde joined the United States and European Union to warn about threats to Ukraine's efforts to reduce corruption.
“We are deeply concerned by recent events in Ukraine that could roll back progress that has been made in setting up independent institutions to tackle high-level corruption,” Lagarde said.
The IMF chief said recent actions by prosecutors in Ukraine could threaten the independence of Ukraine's National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU), which was set up after the Euromaidan protests ousted Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
NABU said on November 30 that the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine illegally interfered with an undercover NABU operation aimed at identifying members of an organized criminal group in the State Migration Service.
Lagarde urged "Ukrainian authorities and parliament to safeguard the independence of NABU and SAPO," Ukraine’s Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office.
In a separate statement, the World Bank's office in Ukraine said attacks on NABU and on SAPO "threaten their ability to fight corruption and recover stolen assets."
"It's critical they have the legislative framework & resources to fulfil their mandate," the World Bank statement said.
Undermining Public Trust
The World Bank and the IMF are among the largest financial contributors to a $40 billion bailout package given to Ukraine to bolster and reform its economy after a pro-Western government came to power following Yanukovych's ouster and flight to Russia.
But billions of dollars in IMF loans have been delayed due to what is seen as backtracking on reform commitments, even as Kyiv attempts to become more closely integrated with the EU and increase foreign investment.
The U.S. State Department said on December 4 that concerns about Ukraine's commitment to fight corruption were raised by actions that "appear to be part of an effort to undermine independent anticorruption institutions."
Washington said the moves "undermine public trust and risk eroding international support for Ukraine."
The EU said in a December 5 statement that "the fight against corruption is a key element in the development of EU-Ukraine relations, upon which the success of other reforms rests."
"Ukrainian authorities have to reinforce their efforts to ensure the independence, operational capacity, and full effectiveness of the anticorruption institutions," the EU said.
With reporting by Reuters
Here's a look-ahead from our news desk to today's meeting between Sergei Lavrov and Rex Tillerson:
Ukraine Tops Agenda Of Tillerson, Lavrov Talks At OSCE Meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plan to meet for face-to-face talks about Ukraine's conflict on December 7 during the annual Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The Russian and U.S. officials were expected to discuss their differences over a proposal to send armed United Nations peacekeepers into eastern Ukraine in order to bolster the unarmed OSCE monitors who are already deployed there.
Moscow and Washington disagree over the mandate that the proposed UN force would have.
The Kremlin says the UN mission should have the powers to protect OSCE monitors in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists are fighting Ukrainian government troops.
But Western powers fear President Vladimir Putin wants to limit the force’s mandate in a way that any cease-fire would merely consolidate the gains of Russia-backed separatists.
Tillerson has said Washington wants the proposed UN force to have additional peacekeeping powers. That could include the authority to disarm Russia-backed separatist militias in eastern Ukraine.
On December 6, a day before the start of the two-day Vienna conference, Tillerson said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that "Russia’s aggression in Ukraine remains the biggest threat to European security."
He was referring to Moscow's seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
"We prioritize ending the violence," Tillerson said. "That’s our first priority, and to seek to do that we need to put a peacekeeping force in place."
The OSCE has deployed 600 unarmed monitors in eastern Ukraine to investigate and discourage cease-fire violations. They often come under fire from the warring factions.
In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry indicated that Lavrov would also highlight NATO military deployments on the alliance’s eastern flank during the OSCE gathering.
Andrei Kelin, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department, told Interfax on December 7 that he expects contacts and talks at the OSCE gathering to help deescalate tensions in relations between Russia and the West.
"First and foremost, we see the OSCE Ministerial Council as a space for dialogue and the restoration of trust, which has paramount importance amid the currently confrontational atmosphere in European security," Kelin said.
OSCE Secretary-General Thomas Greminger said ahead of the two-day meeting that the risk of military confrontation in Europe is rising amid tensions between NATO and Russia.
Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from the 57 OSCE member countries and 11 partner states were also expected to discuss ways to promote human rights and media freedom, and to fight against terrorism.
With reporting by dpa, Interfax, Reuters, and AP
Belarusians Fighting On Both Sides In Eastern Ukraine
Belarusian volunteers have been fighting on both sides of the Ukrainian government's war with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. But when they return to Belarus, their treatment may depend on which side they backed. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
