Putin On Ukraine -- Same Question, Different Answer
Putin made what appears to be his clearest admission yet that Russia has sent military forces into Ukraine. Asked essentially the same question at his annual news conference in both 2014 and 2015, he gave a slightly different answer this year -- saying "people" were there carrying out military tasks.
Ukrainian president expects EU visa-free deal on Friday
Brussels (dpa) -- Ukraine will receive the go-ahead Friday for its citizens to be granted visa-free travel to the European Union, the country's president, Petro Poroshenko, said Thursday.
Kiev has long sought an end to visa requirements for Ukrainian visitors to the 28-member bloc, but was told it must first undertake a catalogue of reforms, ranging from progress on the rule of law to bringing travel documents in line with EU standards.
The European Commission had been expected to give the green light on Tuesday, but delayed a report on Ukraine's progress because of final issues that still needed to be worked out, EU sources said on condition of anonymity.
The issue was discussed at a meeting late Wednesday between Poroshenko, EU President Donald Tusk and commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. On Thursday, the Ukrainian president indicated that all remaining issues had been ironed out.
"Tomorrow we will have a decision that Ukraine has fulfilled all the requirements necessary for [the] visa free travel regime," Poroshenko said during a press conference in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
"I have the feeling that our opinion will be very positive," Juncker added, in separate remarks to the press.
However, EU member states also have to weigh in on the matter.
Poroshenko expressed hope that EU governments would be presented with draft legislation "in the first half of 2016."
This year's surge in migration into Europe has made some member states wary of granting more people unfettered access to the bloc.
There are also concerns that Ukraine's reform agenda is lagging, as Kiev grapples with the pro-Moscow insurgency in the east of the country. But Poroshenko said the government was committed to implementing the measures demanded by Brussels.
"Ukraine will continue its systemic reform in the area of justice and... internal affairs and the operation of anti-corruption," he pledged.
Ukraine to buy gas from French, British suppliers
Kiev, Dec 17, 2015 (AFP) -- Ukraine, which last month halted gas purchases from Russia, announced Thursday it would receive deliveries from two other European suppliers, paid for by a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
France's Engie and Britain's Noble Clean Fuels have won tenders to deliver gas to Ukraine in December and January, after they offered the lowest tariffs, in particular compared to Russian giant Gazprom, the Naftogaz state energy company said in a statement.
It said the deliveries will be paid for out of a $300 million (277 million euro) loan granted by the EBRD to cover the purchase of around one billion cubic metres of gas from Europe.
Naftogaz did not indicate how much gas the French and British companies would supply nor the price paid.
But a source at the EBRD said the two suppliers would deliver $49.2 million worth of gas to Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine -- locked in a bitter feud since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March 2014 -- have been involved in a festering gas pricing dispute that has seen supplies repeatedly cut off.
Moscow turned the taps back on in October under a deal that saw Kiev switch to a pre-payment system, meaning that cash-strapped Ukraine must stump up money in advance to cover Russian gas deliveries.
But Ukraine on November 25 again announced it had stopped buying gas from Russia.
The EBRD credit is part of a financing plan worth $1.0 billion which Kiev hopes to raise from various institutions in order to pay for gas supplies.
Some 15 percent of the gas used in Europe travels through Ukraine, and the EU has been involved in mediating the dispute between Kiev and Moscow.
Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of orchestrating and supporting the pro-Russian revolt in the east to avenge last year's ouster of Kiev's Kremlin-backed president and the new government's decision to align itself with the West.
From the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine:
Good piece by Tim Judah:
Crimean Tatar leaders Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov have met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
According to Chubarov’s Facebook post, the meeting took place aboard a government plane during a flight between Konya and Ankara. There are no details about the purpose of the meeting.
Earlier, Crimean news agency QHA reported that Crimean Tatar leaders also met with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The article says they discussed Ukraine-Turkey relations, as well as the situation of Crimean Tatars in annexed Crimea.