Ukraine's new military doctrine names Russia as main aggressor
KIEV, Sept 24 (Reuters) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a new military doctrine on Thursday naming Russia as the main military threat to Ukraine, according to a statement on the presidential website.
Ukraine and NATO accuse Russia of providing pro-Russian separatists with arms and troops in support of a rebellion in which nearly 8,000 have been killed since it broke out in eastern regions in the spring of 2014, after the fall of Kiev's pro-Moscow president to a popular uprising.
According to the statement, "Ukraine is currently facing an acute military threat - Russian armed aggression, which includes temporary occupation of Crimea and aggression in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions."
"The doctrine also stipulates scenarios that can endanger (the) military security of Ukraine. The main scenario is full-scale armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine with decisive military-political goals," it said.
Russia denies any involvement in the eastern conflict or accusations that it is seeking to destabilise Ukraine, which was under Moscow's thumb before the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991.
The military doctrine was signed on the heels of a visit by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the week, which held strong symbolic importance for Kiev in its drive for Western integration in the face of pro-Russian separatism in its east.
In December 2014, Russia introduced a new military doctrine of its own in which it named NATO expansion among major external risks.
While the violence in Ukraine's conflict has ebbed to its lowest point since a ceasefire was signed in Minsk seven months ago, Western diplomats say the 11-point peace plan is far from fully implemented.
For example, tanks and lighter artillery have still not been withdrawn from front lines and negotiations on ground rules for local elections in the east remain deadlocked.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, September 24. Check back tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading.
Separatists kick UN,aid groups out of Luhansk:
The United Nations' humanitarian chief says that UN agencies have been ordered out of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine by the "de facto authorities" there.
Stephen O'Brien said he was "alarmed" that Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists ordered UN agencies and several civil health organizations to end operations and leave by this weekend, and called on the separatists to reconsider.
As a result of the separatists' actions, including a new requirement since July that groups register before they can operate in eastern Ukraine, some 16,000 tons of humanitarian aid has not been delivered and local hospitals have not been able to perform surgery because they lack anesthesia, he said.
UN operations in the region of Donetsk, the other major separatist-held city in eastern Ukraine, are also in peril, he said. "A decision by the de facto authorities in Donetsk on the UN's future operations remains on hold, and all UN agency operations have been suspended," he said.
"Some 150,000 people are not receiving monthly food distributions," O'Brien said. The suspension of shipments is putting lives at risk and is "having a serious impact on some 3 million people as winter approaches," he said.
O'Brien called the failure of authorities in the separatist-held regions to allow humanitarian access "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law."
Several international nongovernmental organizations also have been told to leave Luhansk by September 26, he said.
Separatist leaders said on September 24 that they banned 10 Western health relief groups for "grave violations" of local laws.
The list includes such world-renowned organizations as Doctors Without Borders and the Czech Republic's People in Need.
But they spared the operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was targeted earlier this month for allegedly breaching fire-safety laws.
"We received 11 accreditation applications. Ten of them were rejected for various reasons," the Luhansk government's deputy leader, Vasily Nikitin, said in a statement on the insurgents' official news site.
"With much regret, I must say that People in Need -- they too gravely violated our conditions."
The Luhansk guerrillas last week had accused the doctors group of "illegally storing psychotropic medication" that lacked proper registration in either Russia or Ukraine.
Doctors Without Borders strongly denied the allegations. On September 24, the group said it was "extremely concerned" about the separatists' actions and it had closed its office in Luhansk.
Nikitin said the outlawed groups had the right to file new applications or even request ones by telephone if they wish to stay.
The UN's O'Brien called on the separatists "in both Luhansk and Donetsk to ensure the immediate resumption of UN and international NGO activities."
Appealing to Russia, O'Brien urged "everyone with influence over the de facto authorities to use that influence to ensure the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid by UN agencies and international NGOs." (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Russia-Ukraine-EU gas talks set to resume:
Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union are set to resume talks aimed at restoring Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, the Russian energy minister has said.
Aleksandr Novak told reporters in Moscow on September 24 that the talks would start the next day in Brussels. "We will be finally agreeing to the text of the protocol," he said.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a standoff over gas since a pro-Western uprising ousted ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and took control of Kyiv last year.
In July, Russian gas giant Gazprom halted gas supplies to Ukraine after the breakdown of talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Recent weeks have seen fresh attempts to resolve the conflict with the approach of winter, when demand for gas in Ukraine and Europe will rise.
Ukraine transports 15 percent of gas consumed in Europe, and its reserves are running low since Gazprom turned off the tap.
Russian and European officials on September 11 appeared to reach a tentative deal to end the gas dispute, with the EU providing Ukraine $500 million to buy Russian gas so that it can replenish its reserves and ensure uninterrupted gas transit. (AFP and TASS)