Moscow Warns Talks Unlikely To Avert Trade Embargo Against Ukraine
Russia has warned that there's only a slim chance of averting a trade embargo against Ukraine when Kyiv's free-trade pact with the European Union takes effect in January.
Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said he hasn't entirely given up hope of reaching a deal that would satisfy Moscow's objections to the trade pact and avert sanctions through three-way talks between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine.
He said after a day of meetings in Brussels that the talks had been "positive" though "difficult," and "there is a chance of [success], although I wouldn't say it's very great."
Ulyukayev said Russia was considering putting the same kind of sanctions on Ukraine that it has applied to the EU.
Moscow has banned the import of food from the EU in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Ulyukayev said Russia expects it could minimize the damage to its own economy from such a food embargo to about 100 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) a year.
Talks over a possible compromise are expected to continue in November.
Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Eastern Ukrainian Rebel Leader Reportedly Detained
A leader of Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has reportedly been detained by fellow rebels as he returned to the Donetsk region from Russia.
A separatist official said Andrei Purgin -- who was the self-styled speaker of the self-proclaimed parliament of the Donetsk People's Republic -- was reportedly detained near the rebel-held city of Donetsk on September 4, the same day he was allegedly dismissed as head of parliament.
Ellada Shaftner, a member of the rebel parliament, was traveling with Purgin when he and his wife were detained by officials.
Shaftner said she was told by the men who stopped their car that the couple was under arrest.
A separatist official told Reuters that Purgin and his wife were being interrogated.
But Denis Pushilin, another rebel leader, denied that Purgin was under arrest.
"As far as I am informed, [Purgin] feels all right, he has not been arrested," Pushilin said on September 7.
Top rebel leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko declined to comment on the Purgin report.
Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Russia Steps Up Pressure On Ukraine Over Debt
Russia has threatened to challenge an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loan with Ukraine if Kyiv doesn’t pay back its $3 billion bond due in December.
"We will turn to the relevant judicial bodies” if Ukraine fails to make the payment, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in Moscow on September 7. "Also, we are members of the IMF and we will question the validity of the IMF program to Ukraine."
A creditor group that owns half of Ukraine’s sovereign bonds agreed last month to accept new terms that include a 20 percent principal writedown and a four-year maturity extension.
Other bondholders such as Russia are to vote on the agreement this month.
The restructuring is part of a $17.5 billion IMF loan aimed at easing pressure on Ukraine’s economy, which is expected to shrink nearly 10 percent this year due its war in the east and the loss of coal mining and steel factories in areas held by Russian-backed separatists.
Based on reporting by Bloomberg.com and Interfax
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our ongoing Ukraine coverage here.
Odesa blogger Nikolai Holmov says the Kyiv government has been making some headway on the thorny issue of intellectual property: