Polish ex-Prime Minister Donald Tusk has taken over as EC President today. Naturally, Ukraine featured prominently in the first comments he made in the new job (from RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels):
Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was inaugurated as President of the European Council on December 1, marking the first time a politician from a former Soviet bloc country has occupied such a high-ranking European Union post.
Tusk succeeds Herman Van Rompuy, a Belgian who served two consecutive terms at the position since its creation in 2009.
Tusk's agenda includes working for the recovery of the EU economy and negotiating with Russia on multiple issues.
Tusk has accused Russia of "expansionism" and has criticized the seizure of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine.
He has backed EU sanctions against Russia, despite the cost to the EU economy, saying failure to react to Russia's actions in Ukraine would have "catastrophic" consequences.
Ahead of his inauguration, Tusk said he "comes to Brussels from a country that deeply believes in the significance of a united Europe."
(With reporting by Reuters)
Our news desk has some more reaction to the ruble's dramatic plunge this morning (from RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels):
The EU enlargement commissioner says that the steep decline of the Russian ruble is proof that sanctions which the West has imposed on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine are having an effect.
EU Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn made the comment in Brussels on December 1 as the Russian currency lost 8 percent, falling to 53.29 to the dollar and a 66.50 to the euro in afternoon trading.
Hahn told a news briefing, "I think that this is more than proof of the impact of the necessary [sanctions] and I hope that it will contribute to Russia's making the first step towards the normalization of the situation."
The ruble has fallen more than 40 percent this year mostly because of international sanctions imposed over Russia's role in Ukraine and the decline in oil prices.
Russia generates about half its budget revenues from oil and gas exports.