Parties Say They Will Remain In Ukraine's Governing Coalition
Two parties in Ukraine's governing coalition say that they won't abandon the grouping despite a major dispute over a proposal to give more power to Ukraine's regions, including the rebel-held east.
The two parties said their opposition to the proposal to change Ukraine's constitution remains firm, however, highlighting the steep battle President Petro Poroshenko faces to push it through parliament.
Oleg Berezyuk, head of the Samopomich faction, said the group will "remain in the coalition in the role of opposition within the parliamentary majority."
A member of Poroshenko's faction, Igor Kononeko, said the faction of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would also remain in the coalition, the Interfax news agency reported.
Lawmakers gave preliminary approval to the decentralization measure on August 31, with 265 votes in favor. That was well short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution in a final vote expected later this year.
The vote prompted the Radical Party to withdraw from the governing coalition, raising concerns about whether other factions that oppose the constitutional change might follow suit.
Based on reporting by AP and Interfax
Ukraine Officially Declares Russia The Enemy, Vows To Join NATO
Ukraine's National Security Council has approved a new military doctrine that declares Russia to be a military opponent and calls for the country to pursue NATO membership.
There was no immediate official reaction from Russia, which denies claims that it has sent troops and equipment to separatist rebels in Ukraine's east, and which opposes Ukraine joining NATO.
The move came amid strong political tensions over President Petro Poroshenko's efforts to get approval of a constitutional change that would devolve some powers to the regions, including the eastern regions held by the rebels.
Opponents say the change would effectively be capitulation to Russia.
It was unclear if the military doctrine's stance against Russia could dilute opposition to the decentralization effort.
The doctrine now goes to Poroshenko for his signature.
At the Security Council meeting, Poroshenko said the doctrine "not only officially establishes the Russian Federation as Ukraine's military opponent, but states the task of relocating military units and creating the necessary military infrastructure in the eastern and southern regions."
He said Ukraine's army must strive to achieve NATO standards to attain membership by 2020.
Based on reporting by AP and Interfax
This ends our live blogging for September 2. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
U.S., EU widen sanctions on Russia:
The United States and the European Union are widening sanctions against dozens of Russians and Ukrainian individuals and entities with connections to Crimea's annexation and the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine.
In an announcement published in the U.S. Federal Register on September 2, the U.S. administration said it was adding 29 people to its sanctions list.
Some of those added have ties to Kremlin-linked insiders and companies who were previously sanctioned, including Gennady Timchenko, a wealthy oil trader believed to be close to President Vladimir Putin.
A total of 33 companies or other entities were cited, including subsidiaries of state-owned oil giant Rosneft, headed by Putin ally Igor Sechin, and the company that manufactures Kalashnikov assault rifles. Crimea's top ferry operator and several ports on the Black Sea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014, were also blacklisted.
Among other things, the sanctions, imposed by the Commerce Department, make it more difficult for the companies and individuals to get export licenses for goods and materials from the United States.
The European Union, meanwhile, said it would extend the freezing of assets and visa bans for 150 Russians and Ukrainian separatists, along with 37 companies and entities either located in Crimea or having ties to separatist units in eastern Ukraine.
The announcement expands the sanction list first imposed last year by the 28-member bloc, and had included other top Russian officials such as Deputy Prime Ministers Dmitry Rogozin and Dmitry Kozak.
In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry called the new sanctions illegitimate and added to "hostile actions" taken by the United States against Russia. Moscow warned it would respond with unspecified retaliatory measures.
"The action of the United States devalues the signals that it is interested in cooperating with us in resolving myriad pressing international problems," the ministry said in a statement. "The United States should have no illusions that it could continue this course without negative consequences for themselves," it said.
Оther top Russian and Ukrainian officials who were previously sanctioned by the United States include Vladislav Surkov, an influential aide to Putin; Valentina Matviyenko, head of Russia's upper house of parliament; and Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president who was ousted amid violent protests in Kyiv in February 2014.
The crisis in Ukraine has sent relations between the West and Moscow to lows not seen since the Cold War. Russia has struggled to prop up Crimea's economy, which is now all but cut off from Ukraine. Fighting in eastern Ukraine has ebbed in recent days, according to international observers.
More than 6,800 people are estimated to have died in the conflict, according to United Nations estimates.
Despite the gravity of the crisis, the efforts of Washington and Brussels to influence Moscow to reverse the annexation and stop its backing of separatist forces have been mixed at best.
In a report last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that the Western sanctions, and the retaliatory measures taken by the Kremlin, had reduced Russia's real gross domestic product by between 1 and 1.5 percent. In the medium run, the measures could result in a drop in cumulative output of up to 9 percent of GDP, though the IMF cautioned that wasn't a certainty.
Other economists, however, have said the precipitous drop in global oil prices, from which Russia's budget derives a substantial chunk of revenue, has had a greater impact on Moscow's behavior than sanctions. (w/ Reuters)
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