Trump Says U.S. Working With Poland In Response To Russia's 'Destabilizing Behavior'
By RFE/RL
U.S. President Donald Trump said in Warsaw on July 6 that the United States is "committed to maintaining peace and security in Central Europe" and is "working with Poland in response to Russia's actions and destabilizing behavior."
Speaking after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the NATO alliance, saying: "Our strong alliance with NATO and Poland remains critical to deterring conflict and ensuring that war between great powers never again ravages Europe and that the world will be a safer and better place."
In his first trip to Europe in May, Trump shocked many NATO members when he failed to mention Article 5 and instead berated allies for a lack of spending on their defense, claiming the United States shouldered an unfair burden of the costs.
Poland’s proximity to Russia has heightened its concerns about Moscow’s intentions in the region, especially after Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region, its support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and its alleged interference in elections in the United States and some of its European allies.
Trump's remarks came shortly before he was scheduled to meet leaders of Central and Eastern European states and make a televised speech to the people of Poland.
Later on July 6, Trump was due to travel to Hamburg, Germany, for the Group of 20 summit. He plans to meet on July 7 with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
In Warsaw, he was to speak to heads of state and government at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw, a joint project of Poland and Croatia that was launched in 2016 with the aim of strengthening trade, infrastructure, and cooperation on energy and politics between countries that border the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea.
Other countries involved in the initiative include Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, and Austria.
The White House said Trump would encourage leaders at the Three Seas summit who are wary about their dependence on Russian energy to take advantage of newly available supplies of U.S. natural gas.
Poland’s populist leaders have expressed support for Trump’s policies and his view of the world, from anti-immigrant themes to an apparent weakening of support for international organizations.
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) has promised to bus in pro-government activists to hear Trump’s televised address.
ALSO READ: Analysis: Despite High Tensions, Trump, Putin Seek To Reestablish A Broken Dialogue
Still, Polish leaders -- like many others across Europe -- were eager to hear the U.S. president renew his country’s commitment to NATO and to the alliance’s Article 5, the provision that states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all members of the alliance.
U.S. Considering Naming Envoy To Join Minsk Peace Talks Over Ukraine Conflict
Washington is considering heeding calls on all sides to appoint an envoy to the Minsk peace negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and separatists in the east, a senior U.S. State Department official said on July 5.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is due to visit Ukraine next week, has said he would like to help the agreement reached between the warring sides in the Belarusian capital in 2015 succeed, though it has so far has failed to spark even a lasting cease-fire.
Tillerson has also said he doesn't want to be "handcuffed" to the Minsk accord, however, if alternative ways of settling the war that has killed more than 10,000 arise.
The senior State Department official said all parties to the agreement "have asked for a U.S. interlocutor that they can work with -- some sort of Minsk coordinator or envoy ... and we are actively considering that."
The Minsk agreement was brokered by France and Germany and signed by Russia and Ukraine in early 2015. It calls for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, and constitutional reforms to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.
With reporting by Reuters
Ousted Ukrainian President Says Will Not Participate In Kyiv's Treason Trial
Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced that he will not participate in a high treason trial against him that is scheduled to resume in Kyiv on July 6.
Yanukovych said he is recalling his lawyers from the court, which is trying him in absentia on charges of treason, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abetting Russian aggression.
Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014 amid street protests during which his police forces killed dozens of people. He has been living in exile in Russia.
"I don't want to participate in the alleged adversary trial, the outcome of which was determined in advance," he said in a statement, adding that his lawyers are "powerless" to argue his case "in the country of obliterated justice."
Yanukovych said prosecutors are "accusing me of all past, present, and future woes of Ukraine" and called the trial "a sham."
He said that the Ukrainian law allowing the court to try him in absentia violates the European Convention on Human Rights, and the court violated his rights by refusing to allow him to participate in the trial by video conference.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.