An excerpt:
There is no consensus among Ukrainian experts as to what Trump’s victory will mean for relations between Washington, D.C. and Kyiv. On the one hand, Trump’s election is perceived as a threat to Ukraine due to possible détente between the U.S. and the Russian Federation, elements of which would be a recognition of the annexation of Crimea as well as informal consent for Russian domination in the post-Soviet area. Future U.S. support for Ukraine’s reforms is being called into question, too. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, which put effective pressure on Ukraine’s authorities, has so far played a key role in the implementation of these reforms. On the other hand, it is suggested that expectations of Clinton were too high, and the positive aspects of Trump’s election are underlined. This is because the potential need for Ukraine to implement reforms on its own would allow it to become less dependent on the assistance of external partners. However, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian authorities will demonstrate enough political will to introduce wide-ranging changes in the country without external pressure, including from the United States. Besides, U.S. support will be crucial for Ukraine’s further macroeconomic stabilisation. Nevertheless, it is currently difficult to define how future U.S. policy towards Ukraine will shape up.
A news item just in from our correspondent in Brussels, Rikard Jozwiak:
EU Court Upholds Some Sanctions On Russian Businessman
BRUSSELS -- An EU court has partly upheld sanctions imposed on Arkady Rotenberg, a Russian businessman and close associate of President Vladimir Putin.
Rotenberg was added to the EU travel ban and asset-freeze list in the summer of 2014 for his role in the Ukraine crisis.
In its November 30 ruling, the EU's General Court annulled the sanctions against Rotenberg for the period July 2014 to March 2015 because the EU legal reasoning was at fault, a statement said.
However, the Luxembourg-based court said the two additional grounds cited in March 2015 justified the restrictions.
The additional reasons provided included the fact that Rotenberg is the owner of the company Stroygazmontazh, which received a Russian state contract to build a bridge from Russia to Crimea.
He is also the chairman of the board of directors of the publishing house Prosveschenyie, which was behind a campaign to persuade Crimean children that they are now Russian citizens living in Russia.
Rotenberg has two months to appeal the ruling.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
Moscow Calls Ukraine's Planned Crimea Missile Tests 'Provocation'
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called Ukraine's plans to conduct missile tests in airspace near the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula a "new large-scale provocation.”
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on November 30 that the planned tests were aimed at “escalating the conflict between Ukraine and Russia."
On November 29, Ukraine issued an additional formal notice to airmen (NOTAM) on airspace danger zones in connection with the tests planned for December 1-2.
Kyiv plans to test air-to-air combat missile systems.
It said the tests will be conducted in accordance with international regulations entirely in Ukraine's airspace over the open sea.
Media reports in Ukraine quoted Defense Ministry sources as saying that Moscow had officially warned Kyiv it would respond to the missile tests with a missile attack.
Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 30 that he had never heard about such warnings.
Russian illegally annexed Crimea in March 2014 and an ensuing war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed at least 9,600 people in eastern Ukraine.