Germany, France Urge New Ukrainian Government To Act On Reforms
Germany and France have urged new Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman to quickly implement economic reforms and the Minsk agreements on regulating the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel passed on the message to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a phone call on April 15.
"The new dynamic created by the change in government must translate into rapid and concrete results," according to a statement from the French presidential office issued after the telephone call.
The parliament in Ukraine approved Hroysman and his cabinet on April 14 in a bid to end months of political uncertainly and unlock vital foreign aid.
Hroysman replaces the embattled Arseniy Yatsenyuk in the most significant government shake-up since a pro-Western leadership took power in Ukraine following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, in 2014.
On April 14, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden congratulated Hroysman on his new post and echoed Merkel and Hollande by calling on him to quickly implement reforms.
Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
Ukrainian Prosecutors Seeks 15 Years In Jail For Russian Nationals
Prosecutors in Ukraine are demanding 15-year jail terms for two Russian nationals charged with fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Addressing a court in Kyiv on April 15, prosecutors also said that Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerefeyev should be stripped of any assets they may hold in Ukraine.
Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev again denied their guilt. They retracted previous video statements admitting they were on active duty with the Russian military when they were captured in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine in May 2015.
The two said on April 15 that the statements were made under duress.
Moscow claims the two men were not active service members of the country’s armed forces at the time they were detained by Ukrainian forces.