International Security
EU seeks to ensure security in Europe jointly with Russia — Merkel
December 31, 17:34 UTC+3
A system of security will not be directed against the Russian Federation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
A system of security will not be directed against the Russian Federation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© EPA/MAURIZIO GAMBARINI/POOL
BERLIN, December 31. /TASS/. The European Union seeks
“to establish a system of security in Europe jointly with Russia” that will not
be directed against the Russian Federation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said in a New Year address recorded for the German television.
Merkel also said “Europe will not allow Russia to
disregard international law in the context of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Ukrainian crisis
Ukraine has been in deep crisis since the end of last
year, when then-President Viktor Yanukovych suspended the signing of an
Association Agreement with the European Union to study the deal more
thoroughly. The move triggered mass riots that eventually led to a coup in
February 2014.
The coup that brought chaos to Ukraine prompted the
Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with a special status to refuse
to recognize the legitimacy of coup-imposed authorities, hold a referendum and
secede from Ukraine to reunify with Russia in mid-March after some 60 years as
part of Ukraine.
After that, mass protests erupted in Ukraine’s
south-east, where local residents, apparently inspired by Crimea's example, did
not recognize the coup-imposed authorities either, formed militias and started
fighting for their rights.
The positions of Russia and Western nations on the
Ukrainian developments differ drastically. Russia has repeatedly denied any
involvement in the intra-Ukrainian crisis, but the West accuses Moscow of
participation in clashes in Ukraine’s war-torn south-east and has subjected
Russia to sanctions.
© ITAR-TASS/Gennadiy Khamelyanin
Sanctions vs Russia
Russian officials and companies came under the first
batch of Western sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia
incorporated Crimea in mid-March after a coup rocked Ukraine in February.
Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean
referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and
the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession
from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality
of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
The West announced new, sectoral, restrictions against
Russia in late July, in particular, for what the West claimed was Moscow’s
alleged involvement in protests in Ukraine’s south-east.
In response, Russia imposed on August 6 a one-year ban
on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy
products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and
Norway.
Situation in south-east Ukraine
Kiev’s military operation designed to regain control over
the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Ukraine’s southeast on the border
with Russia, which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics,
has left thousands of people dead, brought destruction and forced hundreds of
thousands to flee.
Businessman and politician Petro Poroshenko won the
May 25 early presidential election in Ukraine.
The parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict agreed on
a ceasefire during talks mediated by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5 in Belarusian capital Minsk two
days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed his plan to settle the
situation in the east of Ukraine.
Numerous violations of the ceasefire, which took
effect the same day, have been reported since.
A memorandum was adopted on September 19 in Minsk by
the Trilateral Contact
Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of
Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. The document outlined the parameters for the
implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the
Minsk Protocol of September 5.
The nine-point memorandum in particular envisioned a
ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of
over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from
each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of
memorandum provisions.
A "day of
silence" in eastern Ukraine began at 09:00am local time on December
9. It is seen as another attempt by both parties to the intra-Ukrainian
conflict to put an end to hostilities.
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