Here's a new item from our news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law a bill that allows foreign citizens to serve in Ukraine's armed forces.
The legislation, which had been passed by the parliament in Kyiv on October 6, allows foreigners a legal possibility to serve under a contract in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations.
A statement from Poroshenko's office said the law "will increase the combat capability of Ukraine's military forces" by receiving "several combat-capable, experienced and motivated battalion-level units with a total number of up to 1,000 personnel.”
Poroshenko’s office said the influx of foreigners also would "help reduce the need for the conscription of Ukrainian citizens as part of mobilization" in response to fighting with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(Interfax, 1+1 TV)
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has written an interesting opinion piece for Project Syndicate on what he see's as Russia's "tragic miscalulation" in Ukraine:
COPENHAGEN -- Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is one of the great tragedies of our time, not only because of the tremendous human cost, but also because it is utterly pointless. Indeed, Russia’s leaders fundamentally misjudged the West’s intentions and created an entirely unnecessary confrontation that undermines both sides’ interests.
Russia and the West – with their closely interlinked economies and many overlapping political objectives in Europe and beyond – have much to gain from peaceful cooperation. But instead of working with Western powers to enhance shared prosperity, the Kremlin turned on its partners abroad.
The reason was simple: Russia viewed the gradual enlargement of the European Union and NATO – achieved through their “neighborhood” and “open door” policies, respectively – as carefully orchestrated attempts to encircle and threaten it. According to Kremlin rhetoric, by welcoming former Soviet countries, the EU and NATO were explicitly attempting to weaken Russia. This interpretation ultimately drove Russia to respond to Ukraine’s plans to sign an association agreement with the EU by annexing Crimea and attempting to create a “frozen conflict” in eastern Ukraine.
But Russia’s interpretation was patently wrong – and I can say so with full authority. As Prime Minister of Denmark, I chaired the 2002 EU summit in Copenhagen, where European leaders agreed on the bloc’s most expansive enlargement ever. And as Secretary General of NATO, I spent five years chairing the NATO-Russia Council to build cooperation with our largest neighbor.
The truth is that the young democracies of Central and Eastern Europe sought to join the EU and NATO – and worked hard to gain membership – because they longed for peace, progress, and prosperity. It was those countries’ ambitions, not some vendetta against Russia, that drove EU and NATO enlargement.
Russia should not bemoan its neighbors’ decision to engage with the EU and NATO, which, after all, paved the way for economic progress and security improvements. The EU and NATO supported the construction of strong democratic institutions based on the rule of law and respect for minorities, the emergence of viable and dynamic economies, and the peaceful resolution of border disputes.
A secure and prosperous Central and Eastern Europe benefits everyone – especially Russia. Today, the EU is Russia’s largest foreign market, with a major share of its exports going to the member states that joined in 2004. And Russia’s border with the EU, far from posing a threat, is the most stable and secure of all its frontiers.
Read the entire article here
We are now closing the live blog for today, but until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this item that came off our news desk overnight:
Ukrainian authorities said they will buy natural gas from Russia until the end of the year, but will purchase all Ukraine's gas from Europe in the first quarter of 2016 if Russia does not offer a competitive price.
"We expect and hope that Russian gas sellers will be rational and propose competitive prices to us," Naftogaz Chief Executive Andriy Kobolev said at a company briefing in Kyiv on November 3.
"If there is no such offer we will be purchasing all gas from Europe," he said.
Kobolev said that no additional agreement needs to be signed on first-quarter gas purchases, as it is possible for Ukraine to act within the framework of documents signed earlier this year.
He added that Naftogaz Ukrainy is expecting "a serious fall" in gas prices, starting in the second quarter of next year.
(Reuters, Interfax, TASS)
Not directly related to Ukraine's crisis, but this sort of stuff doesn't portray the country in a good light (particularly in the West):