Ukraine will come out a loser in the airline sanctions war between Kyiv and Moscow, says Ukrainian economist Oleh Ustenko in an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
"Some experts now talk about certain numbers; that Russia will lose, for example, more than $100 million, and Ukraine $50 million-$60 million. We can't compare absolute values. We have to compare with regards to the market. Let’s say, if for Russia $100 million is peanuts, then for us $50 million, considering our GDP, is a lot of money," Ustenko said.
The Ukrainian government should think more broadly instead and emphasize the need for reforms where fighting corruption is a priority, he added.
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone -- courtesy of Ukraine's Defense Ministry (click image to enlarge):
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt writes on Twitter that President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden discussed the possibility of the U.S. supplying Ukraine with military radars during their latest meeting.
How many radars and when exactly they will be delivered remains unclear.
Poroshenko and Biden met on September 29 in New York.
President Petro Poroshenko met with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in New York on September 29. The two discussed implementation of the Minsk agreement, according to the presidential press office.
“The parties agreed that Russia must fully implement the Minsk agreements,” reads the statement.
Biden emphasized that Ukraine’s security issue is in no way related to the situation around the conflict in Syria.