NATO Chief Says Russia Destabilizing Europe, Criticizes 'Nuclear Rhetoric'
By RFE/RL
MUNICH, Germany -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that an "assertive Russia is destabilizing Europe" and that Moscow's "rhetoric and posturing" about its nuclear might is "aimed at intimidating its neighbors" and undermining trust.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 13, Stoltenberg said that NATO does not want "confrontation" with Russia or a "new Cold War," but that its response must be firm.
He said that NATO's moves to strengthen defenses on its eastern flank are just that -- defensive -- and designed "not to wage war but to prevent war."
Stoltenberg said he expects further moves to strengthen those defenses at a NATO summit in Warsaw in July.
He called for "more defense" as well as "more dialogue" with Russia.
Stoltenberg voiced concern about an increase in Russian references to the country's nuclear might. He said "nobody should think that" nuclear weapons can be used in a conventional war.
Russia occupied and seized control of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has given military backing to separatists whose war with Kyiv's forces has killed more than 9,000 people in eastern Ukraine.
Foreign Ministers Discuss Eastern Ukraine Conflict, Minsk Deal
By RFE/RL
MUNICH -- Senior diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France met in Munich on February 13 to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and implementation of the Minsk II agreement on steps to end the conflict there.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany, and Russia took part, along with a senior French diplomat.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivered a rebuke to Russia, saying that "the question of war and peace has returned to the European continent" following Moscow's seizure of Crimea and backing for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Steinmeier's remarks opened the second day of the conference.
He did not identify Russia by name. But he said that after the end of the Cold War and the violent 20th century "we had thought that peace had returned to Europe for good" and that "borders would not be put into question."
The "turbulence" on Europe's eastern edge is one of several major challenges the European Union is facing, Steinmeier said.
The war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014.
Fighting has diminished substantially since September 2015, but many aspects of the Minsk deal have not been implemented.
The deal calls for elections under Ukrainian law in separatist-held areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, withdrawal of foreign forces, and the return of Ukrainian control over the border with Russia, among other things.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said before the meeting that Russia is not adhering to its obligations. He said he hoped to focus on security, prisoner exchanges, and discussions of how to hold "free and fair elections."
Russia denies it has sent weapons and troops into eastern Ukraine despite what Kyiv and NATO say is overwhelming evidence.
With reporting by Unian and RIA
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, February 12. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Biden, Poroshenko Again Discuss Corruption, Reforms
By RFE/RL
With concern growing about Ukraine’s government and its commitment to cleaning up corruption and cronyism, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for the second time in as many days.
The February 12 phone call from Biden -- the White House’s point man on Ukraine -- came just days after the resignation of reformist Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, who angrily accused top officials in the Poroshenko administration of hindering badly needed reforms.
Western ambassadors have been vocal in urging Poroshenko to do more, and the International Monetary Fund has signaled that $1.75 billion in bailout funds could be in doubt.
The White House said Biden told the Ukrainian leader that reforms need to be passed quickly to ensure the IMF funds.
"The two leaders agreed on the importance of unity among Ukrainian political forces to quickly pass reforms in line with the commitments in its IMF program, including measures focused on rooting out corruption," it said in a statement.
Poroshenko had been seen as committed to cleaning up Ukraine’s notorious corrupt and untransparent government, and Abromavicius had been one of several foreign-born officials brought in as part of that effort.
But the push to eliminate problems like bribery, kickbacks, and preferential hiring for wealthy insiders has proceeded at a slow pace, resulting in growing frustration both inside Ukraine and among Western officials and lenders.
The resignation of Abromavicius sparked fears that the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk might collapse. That would undermine efforts to cement the Minsk accords that brought a shaky cease-fire to the fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russia-backed rebels and government troops.
Moldova Indicts, Sentences Individuals Who Fought As Mercenaries In Ukraine
By Eugen Tomiuc
Moldovan prosecutors say Russian-backed separatists in southeastern Ukraine have been hiring Moldovan mercenaries to fight on their side, sometimes promising as much as $3,000 monthly.
Dozens of Moldovans are known to have fought along the separatists for money, officials under the Prosecutor-General's Office said at a news conference on February 11.
Ten suspected mercenaries have been arrested and place under investigation since the beginning of the year, and two of them have already been sentenced to three years in prison each, said Igor Popa, the acting prosecutor-general for Moldova's capital, Chisinau.
Under Moldova's current legislation, serving as a mercenary abroad is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
Popa said criminal cases are continuing against the remaining eight, aged 26 to 32, most of whom are Russian speakers from southern Moldova.
At the time of their arrest, all were carrying documents showing they belonged to separatist units from southeastern Ukraine.
"I regret to say it, but tens of Moldovans have been fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine," Popa said. "We have documented cases where Moldovan citizens have been injured and we don't rule out possible deaths of our citizens during this military conflict."
The precise number of Moldovans fighting in Ukraine is not known, but Moldovan security services say they are making every effort to identify suspected mercenaries.
Since they are usually ex-members of special military or police units, according to Popa, they pose a threat to Moldova's national security.
"Ukraine's security service promised during a joint meeting with its Moldovan counterpart that Kyiv would give them a list of all Moldovans known to be involved in the conflict," Popa said.
While empathy with the separatists' cause may have played a role in the recruitment of ethnic Russians from Moldova, the main incentive remains money.
"For example, one individual who was sent to court in January has admitted that he was promised from the outset that he would be paid some $3,000 monthly," said Nicu Sendrea, the deputy prosecutor for Chisinau.
Two other suspects were apprehended upon reentering Moldova with large sums of Russian rubles after fighting alongside separatists in Ukraine.
"Both individuals admitted to being paid sums of money in Russian rubles -- one 15,000 rubles ($180), and the other one 40,000 rubles ($500) monthly," said Denis Rotaru, the head of Moldova's antiorganized crime unit.
More than 9,000 civilians and combatants have been killed since the war erupted in southeastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in April 2014. Fighting has diminished markedly after a second cease-fire was signed in Minsk in February 2015, but violations are frequent and a deal aimed to resolve the conflict has gone largely unimplemented.