President Petro Poroshenko tweeted that he has invited former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to become part of the International Advisory Council on Reforms.
Ukraine Parliament Backs Debt Restructuring Deal
The Ukrainian parliament has given its backing to a debt restructuring deal that aims to save Kyiv billions of dollars and bolster its financial stability.
The speaker of parliament, Volodymyr Groisman, called it a "victory for Ukraine," after lawmakers approved three laws needed to pass the deal.
There was heated debate before the vote on September 17, but in the end the bills passed with more than 300 "yes" votes for each law compared with the 226 minimum needed.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told parliament that a "yes" vote meant a vote for "economic growth, foreign investment, increasing the number of jobs, and a rise in social standards."
Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko -- who led negotiations with Ukraine's commercial leaders to secure the deal -- also addressed parliament ahead of the vote.
She later tweeted that Greece -- also facing debt negotiations with creditors -- "could only dream of such a deal."
However, some Ukrainian lawmakers voiced dissatisfaction with the deal, which aims to cut Ukraine's debt to 71 percent of annual economic output by 2020 from an estimated 100 percent now.
"We have to vote for this disgrace through tears," former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.
Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
The de facto head of annexed Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, says that a blockade planned by Crimean Tatar activists on September 20 will be counterproductive.
“It is an action aimed solely at the destruction of ties between Russia and Ukraine. .... I regret that due to such acts and the will of a few individuals, contacts that have been built for many years are being destroyed,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to Aksyonov, blocking the roads between Ukraine proper and Crimea will lead to Ukrainians “losing an opportunity to sell their goods” in Crimea.
He pointed out that the blockade won’t influence the development of the peninsula, as there are ferry connections with Russia.
Kremlin Condemns Media Inclusion In Ukraine Sanctions
The Kremlin says Ukraine's decision to sanction many media representatives is "totally unacceptable."
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 17 that Moscow strongly condemned the move, saying "it does not correspond with the principles of freedom."
On September 16, Ukraine barred a few dozen reporters, including three BBC journalists, from entering the country as an unspecified security threat.
The media representatives were part of a sanctions list signed by President Petro Poroshenko barring nearly 400 individuals from entering Ukraine, including BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg and producer Emma Wells, both British, and Russian cameraman Anton Chicherov.
Also on the list of banned journalists are Antonio Pampliega and Angel Sastre, two Spanish reporters who disappeared in Syria in July and are believed to have been kidnapped by the Islamic State militant group, and two reporters for Russian news agencies in South Africa and Turkey with no clear links to Ukraine.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement that it was "dismayed" by Poroshenko's actions.
"While the government may not like or agree with the coverage, labeling journalists a potential threat to national security is not an appropriate response," said the committee's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Nina Ognianova.
Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters
Russian airlines could lose tens of millions of dollars due to newly implemented Ukrainian sanctions, according to TASS.
“Russian airlines that are sanctioned don’t transit much through Ukraine,” said the president of the Russian Association of Air Transport Operations, Vladimir Tasun.
“If transit to Europe, even Turkey, through Ukraine will be prohibited, sanctions will put a certain pressure on carriers who already have serious financial troubles. The amount that they may lose may equal to dozens of millions of dollars,” he added.
Russian planes might lose up to 40 minutes on each flight by being forced to fly around Ukraine, Tasun said.
The list, however, is still available on Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council website. The Council was responsible for making this list.