Moscow Says Blacklist of EU's Kremlin Critics Not Politically Motivated
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksei Meshkov on June 1 rejected Western criticism of the Kremlin’s European Union blacklist, saying that the entry ban against 89 politicians from 17 EU countries was not politically motivated.
Meshkov said the “sole purpose” of the blacklist against staunch Kremlin critics in the EU “is to make somewhat easier the life of persons on that list.”
He said Moscow’s confidence in the EU has been undermined by complaints about the ban from Brussels.
Tensions are high between Moscow and the West over Russia's seizure and annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The EU has imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on 151 Russians and pro-Russian Ukrainians.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on May 30 that the Kremlin’s blacklist was “totally arbitrary and unjustified, especially in the absence of any further clarification and transparency."
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax
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EBRD Team Visiting Kyiv; IMF Lowers 2015 Growth Forecast
By RFE/RL
Senior officials from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are arriving in Kyiv on June 1 for five days of talks on Ukraine’s political and economic reforms.
The EBRD delegation includes members of the bank’s board of directors such as Tamsyn Barton, who represents the European Investment Bank, and Peter Bash, the EBRD’s acting director representing the European Union.
The visit comes a day after the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for Ukraine’s war-battered economy, predicting the economy will contract by 9 percent during 2015 -- due in large part to "the unresolved conflict in the east."
The revision followed a two-week visit by an IMF delegation to Kyiv that was completed on May 29.
Despite that move, the IMF gave a positive assessment of progress by Kyiv’s government on reform.
Ukraine is nearly bankrupt and is fighting a war in its east against Russian-backed separatists.
The government in Kyiv is hoping the IMF will disburse a second tranche of credit of about $2.5 billion under its four-year, $17.5 billion bailout program.