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Sounds of War Recede to Background in an Eastern Ukraine City

Continue reading the main story Slide Show Slide Show|10 Photos The New Normal in Mariupol The New Normal in Mariupol CreditBrendan Hoffman for The New York Times MARIUPOL, Ukraine — While his children played a popular Russian card game called “Fool ” on a sand-flecked blanket, beside a razor-wire fence warning “Do Not Enter — Mines,” Sergei Sovyak reflected on what has become of his battered, seaside city. “These days, the war is happening on a kind of political chessboard,” said Mr. Sovyak, a metallurgist. “It has become a conflict in the mind. In reality, in everyday life, there is no war anymore.” There is no doubt that life has changed considerably in this rusting industrial port on the Sea of Azov. Earlier this year, a fierce separatist offensive , backed by Moscow, threatened to overrun the city and create a land bridge connecting Russia with the Crimean Peninsula […]

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Ukraine Sees Signs Truce Can Last as Putin Juggles War and Peace

As Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign in Syria enters a fourth week, Ukrainian officials are increasingly hopeful the country’s cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists will lead to a lasting peace. The financial penalties the U.S. and EU imposed on Russia for backing the insurgency finally appear to be curbing’s Putin’s appetite for the rebellion, according to Borys Lozhkin, President Petro Poroshenko’s chief of staff. “Putin wants sanctions lifted as soon as possible, so he’s showing readiness to implement Minsk II,” Lozhkin said in an interview in Kiev, referring to the second truce agreement Ukraine reached with rebel leaders and Russia, in neighboring Belarus in February. If the accord holds, Ukraine will meet one of Russia’s key demands — passing constitutional changes giving regions more autonomy — but probably not until December, when Putin’s intentions become more clear, Lozhkin said. “We’ll only know in a month or two if Putin’s readiness for […]

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Gazprom Restarts Gas Deliveries to Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine—Russian state natural-gas company PAO Gazprom resumed deliveries to Ukraine on Monday, after halting exports in July, reducing the risk of disruption to supplies to the rest of Europe this winter. Deliveries were resumed after Ukraine paid $234 million of a total $500 million prepayment expected for gas in October, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said. Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn confirmed to Interfax news agency that deliveries had resumed early on Monday. Ukraine and Russia finalized, but didn’t yet sign, a preliminary gas agreement last month, which would bring down the cost of Russian gas for Ukraine to that paid by neighboring European Union countries until March. In return, Ukraine promised to ensure that Russia can ship gas to the EU without interruptions and to pump 2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage facilities over the next month. The European Union has worked to bring […]

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Ukraine, Russia Reach Preliminary Deal on Gas Supplies Through March

BRUSSELS—Ukraine and Russia on Friday reached a preliminary deal on natural-gas supplies to the conflict-torn country until the end of March that, if implemented, will avoid potential cutoffs and shortages for Ukraine and the rest of Europe this winter. The agreement, which still needs to be approved by the government in Kiev, brings down the cost of Russian gas for Ukraine to the same price that is paid by neighboring European Union countries until March. In return, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn promised to ensure Russia can ship gas to the EU without interruptions and to pump 2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage facilities over the next month. “This is an important factor for a secure time for the winter period,” said Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, has been working for much of the year to get the two sides […]

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Fighting Intensifies Along Eastern Ukraine Cease-Fire Line

Photo A house destroyed in heavy fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the village of Sartana, near Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine. Credit Sergey Vaganov/European Pressphoto Agency MOSCOW — Fighting between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine has escalated sharply in recent days, with each side blaming the other for the violence. At least nine people were killed in artillery strikes on Monday in villages and towns on both sides of a cease-fire line, and United States officials have said that one three-day period of fighting along the front last week was the most intense since a February cease-fire . Neither side has openly renounced the cease-fire, but European monitors of the accord say both have been pulling heavy weapons out of storage sites and putting them to use. The United States State Department blamed Russia and pro-Russian rebels for the uptick in violence. American […]

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Russia Says Ukraine Preparing New Offensive Against Separatists

MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday he suspected Ukraine was preparing a new offensive against pro-Moscow separatists in east Ukraine following an upsurge in fighting. Clashes near the port city of Mariupol and the rebel-held town of Gorlivka have put further strain on a fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists. "We are worried by the developments in recent days which strongly recall preparation for more military actions," Lavrov told a news conference, accusing Kiev of breaking the terms of a ceasefire. "It was like that in August last year when Ukrainian soldiers received the order to attack. … It was like that in January of this year. One shouldn’t be experimenting and trying one’s luck, one should simply fulfill what was agreed in Minsk." Both sides have withdrawn artillery guns, tanks and other heavy weapons under the terms of the Minsk peace […]

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Ukraine surge in fighting violates ceasefire – EU

Ukraine’s government says its forces have come under attack near the key city of Mariupol The European Union says escalating attacks on government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine violate a February peace deal with pro-Russia separatists. "The Minsk Agreements must be implemented in good faith, starting with full observation of the ceasefire and genuine withdrawal of heavy weapons," the EU said. Ukraine on Monday accused rebels of carrying out the heaviest shelling since the truce was agreed. Russia denies any role in the fighting. However, Ukraine and the West say there is a growing body of evidence pointing to direct involvement from Moscow. Rebel leaders have denied firing on Ukrainian positions and accuse government forces of violating the ceasefire themselves some 40 times over a 24-hour period. Some of the worst fighting was near the village of Starohnativka, 50km (31 miles) north of the strategic port of Mariupol. Ukraine says […]

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Ukraine crisis: Why a lack of parts has hamstrung Russia’s military

A Russian Mi-26 helicopter: Ukraine stopped delivering engines for the military versions Russia’s defence firms have been hit not only by Western sanctions but also by a breakdown in business ties with Ukraine. For decades under Soviet rule, Russia’s strategic industries had close links with partners in Ukraine, all centrally controlled from Moscow. But relations soured last year, with Ukraine’s pivot to the West, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The EU and US banned military exports to Russia, saying Moscow was supplying the insurgents with sophisticated heavy weapons and regular troops. Moscow denied the allegations. Equipment blocked Last month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told parliament that Ukrainian components were used in the production of 186 types of Russian military equipment. That is a serious problem, he admitted, and Moscow could resolve it only by 2018. Back in June 2014, Ukrainian President […]

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EU extends loan to assist with Ukrainian reforms

European Commissioner extends assistance to Ukraine to help with energy and financial sector reforms. Photo by canadastock/Shutterstock BRUSSELS, July 22 (UPI) — The European Commission said Wednesday it agreed to extend financial assistance to Ukraine, a key energy transit country, to help with economic reforms. The commission, acting on behalf of the European Union, said it disbursed $650 million in assistance to Ukraine to address "urgent financing needs" necessary for economic stability . The loan is aimed at steering Ukraine through energy and financial sector reforms. "Through this financial assistance, the EU is proud to support the courageous reform agenda pursued by the government," Valdis Dombrovskis, European commissioner for the euro, said in a statement. "I am confident that the implementation of those ambitious reforms will help Ukraine exploit its many assets to the full, so as to foster strong and sustainable economic growth for the benefit of all […]

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Ukraine considers Kazakh gas transit options

Ukraine is reviewing its natural gas options after tilting away from its former Soviet patrons. File Photo by UPI/Hamid Forotan KIEV, Ukraine, July 17 (UPI) — Trade agreements with Kazakhstan may include the possibility of receiving natural gas shipments sent through the country, Ukraine’s government said. The Ukrainian government said Friday it was working to develop trade and economic deals with Kazakhstan. Arrangements were drafted during bilateral economic sessions attended by deputy ministers on both sides. Kiev said the terms of the agreement call on representatives from each country to examine the potential for energy cooperation. "The participants of the meeting also agreed to study the issue of supply to Ukraine of Kazakhstan natural gas and transit through the territory of Kazakhstan of Turkmen and Uzbek natural gas," the Ukrainian government said in a statement. An April report from the International Energy Agency said a more liberalized energy sector […]

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Bypassing Ukraine will be costly for Russia’s Gazprom: analysts

An employee turns a valve at a gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka, outside Kiev, Ukraine, in this April 22, 2015 file photo. Russia’s plans to drop Ukraine as a route for pumping natural gas to Europe will still leave state-run Gazprom facing about $1 billion in annual transit fees to Slovakia and Bulgaria for years to come, analysts and industry sources say. Russia wants to circumnavigate Ukraine to pipe its gas to Europe because of pricing disagreements, which at times have led to disruptions in supplies to the European Union, but doing so will come at a cost which some analysts say is too high. Billions of euros will be needed to build and expand alternative routes, and the route of the existing pipeline means transit fees to Slovakia and Bulgaria will have to be paid by Gazprom even if Russia manages to bypass Ukraine by […]

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LNG deliveries mulled for Ukrainian market

Texas company reviews prospects of sending liquefied natural gas to a Ukrainian market under the thumb of Russian energy company Gazprom. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov HOUSTON, July 15 (UPI) — A Texas-based company, led in part by a former Conoco Phillips veteran, said it was reviewing the prospects of shipping liquefied natural gas to Ukraine. Frontera Resources Corp. said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz to work in the upstream, or exploration and production, sector in Ukraine as well as study the potential to deliver liquefied natural gas from its work in Caucasus country Georgia. "I strongly believe that our closer work with Naftogaz will open avenues to strategically supply Ukraine with LNG from across the Black Sea," Steve Nicandros, former Conoco brass and Frontera’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "This will serve to diversify the country’s supply […]

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IMF Warns Proposed Legislation in Ukraine Threatens Reforms

KIEV, Ukraine—The International Monetary Fund warned Sunday that recently proposed legislation in Ukraine threatens to undermine reforms critical to the success of a $40 billion bailout package for the country. Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF’s European department, said in a statement that seven pieces of legislation up for review in Ukraine’s parliament next week could roll back important reforms on pensions and energy tariffs that Ukrainian lawmakers passed earlier this year. The fund also condemned a separate law passed by parliament earlier this month that would allow Ukrainians to repay foreign currency loans at a more favorable exchange rate, a move some experts have said could collapse the country’s banking system. President Petro Poroshenko has signaled he will veto the foreign-exchange bill. The IMF’s concerns come as Ukraine continues to struggle with a buckling economy, as the armed conflict with Russia-backed rebels persists in the country’s east. Ukraine’s […]

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Ukraine raises gas imports from Slovakia: company

Ukraine will take about 21 percent more gas from Slovakia to boost deliveries to underground storage after the country suspended imports from Russia over a pricing dispute, transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz said on Friday. Ukraine plans to import 16.5 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas on Friday from Slovakia, up from daily imports of 13.6 mcm so far this month, a spokesman for the company said. He said Ukraine pumped 27 mcm of gas per day from July 1-9 and collected 12.2 billion cubic meters of gas in reserves as of July 10. Ukrainian energy officials say Ukrtransgaz must store about 60 mcm of gas per day to ensure it has enough gas to meet demand during the winter and to guarantee the transit of Russian gas to European consumers. With Ukraine’s economy close to bankruptcy because of years of economic mismanagement and fighting against pro-Russian rebels in the country’s […]

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Ukraine reviews domestic gas options

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk calls for domestic natural gas reserves to dominate the nation’s energy sector within the next 10 years. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI KIEV, Ukraine, July 8 (UPI) — Ukraine’s prime minister said the country must wean itself off foreign natural gas within 10 years, offering tax breaks as an incentive to private companies. "Ukraine has to provide itself with domestic gas production within 10 years by reducing the consumption and increasing the domestic production," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Trilateral talks between European, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators collapsed last week in Vienna. The energy relationship between Ukraine and Russia has been strained at least since 2006, when Ukrainian debt issues prompted Russian energy company Gazprom to cut gas supplies through the country. The Kremlin during last week’s debate opted to keep prices for Ukraine unchanged from the second quarter, which included a $40 […]

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Russian, Ukrainian gas talks collapse

Natural gas talks between Russia and Ukraine collapse in Vienna after Kiev balks on price offer. File Photo by UPI/Ivan Vakolenko VIENNA, July 1 (UPI) — European leaders said they’d get to work on proposing new strategies after natural gas talks between Russia and Ukraine collapsed in Vienna. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic met in Vienna with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Demchyshyn and Andriy Kobolev, the chief executive officer at Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz. The energy relationship between Ukraine and Russia has been strained at least since 2006, when Ukrainian debt issues prompted Russian energy company Gazprom to cut gas supplies through Ukraine. The European economy gets about a quarter of its natural gas from Russia, though most of that runs through the Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine. The European Commission has acted as a mediator to bilateral talks that began in March […]

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Russia, Ukraine ‘Still Far Apart’ on Gas Deal

BRUSSELS—Russia and Ukraine “are still far apart” on a deal to ensure stable natural-gas deliveries to Ukraine and the European Union over the winter, the EU’s energy czar said Tuesday. The statement from the EU’s vice president for the energy union, Maros Sefcovic, came after the energy ministers from both sides met in Vienna, along with the chief executives of their gas companies, Russia’s OAO Gazprom and Ukraine’s OAO Naftogaz. The EU gets about one-third of its gas from Russia and about half of that is transported through Ukraine. But the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the broader standoff between Moscow and Kiev has put these deliveries in doubt. “As the meeting has shown today, the parties are still far apart,” Mr. Sefcovic said. “We have agreed that the [European] Commission will put forward ideas to prepare next steps so that the next consultation could take place.”

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Ukraine suspends Russian gas purchases

A worker checks equipment at the Dashava gas storage near the western Ukrainian town Stryi Russian gas purchases have been suspended by Ukraine after a breakdown in talks aimed at keeping supplies running for three to six months. The Ukrainian state energy company, Naftogaz, said it would continue transporting Russian gas supplies to other European customers. It will be the second time in less than a year that Russian fuel supplies have stopped running to Ukraine. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak called the decision "unfortunate". Moscow hiked prices after Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014. It cut off gas supplies in June 2014 as the conflict between the government in Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in the east escalated. Since then, the European Union, which mediated at the price negotiations in Vienna, has forged a series of temporary agreements that need to be renewed every three months. […]

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Gazprom Seeks A Way Around Ukraine By 2019

Gazprom has vowed to entirely cut out Ukraine as a transit hub for natural gas exports to Europe. The conflict with Ukraine has scrambled the longstanding energy relationship between Russia and Europe. The European Union imports around one-third of its natural gas from Russia, but having seen those flows cut off multiple times in the past, European officials are pushing to rid themselves of their dependence on Moscow. The violence in Ukraine solidified that motivation. Russia is also unhappy with the arrangement. In an effort to separate gas exports to the EU (a critical business relationship that Moscow doesn’t want interrupted) from its ongoing conflict with Kiev (a geostrategic priority), Russia has a great incentive to cut out Ukraine. About half of Russia’s gas exports to Europe must travel through Ukraine. But that could change within the next four years, if Gazprom gets its way. “We will not export […]

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Greece and Ukraine crises drown out G7 summit agenda

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations meet on Sunday in the Bavarian Alps for a summit overshadowed by Greece’s debt crisis and ongoing violence in Ukraine. Host Angela Merkel is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming to build momentum in the run-up to a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December. The German agenda also foresees discussions on global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases. But on the evening before the German chancellor welcomes the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, she and French President Francois Hollande were forced into their fourth emergency phone call in 10 days with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to try to break a deadlock between Athens and its international creditors. The two sides have been wrangling for months over the terms of […]

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High Inflation Makes Ukraine’s Troubled Situation Worse

Photo The Petrivka market in Kiev. Across Ukraine, the price of everything seems to have gone up sharply, including tea, apples and fresh fish. Credit Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times KIEV, Ukraine — Olesia Verchenko looked over a selection of blackened avocados at a supermarket here recently. Their price has roughly doubled over the last year, notwithstanding the stickers on them advertising a 25 percent discount. “I don’t think anybody takes avocado anymore, so they are basically rotting on the shelves,” said Ms. Verchenko, an economist. While the rest of Europe tries desperately to shrug off low inflation, Ukraine has added rapidly rising prices to its long list of problems during its civil war with Russian-backed rebels. Official inflation figures showed that prices rose 61 percent in April compared with a year earlier. But many prices have doubled and tripled. Ms. Verchenko, a 37-year-old mother of two […]

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Ukraine Repels Separatists in Fierce Fighting, Poroshenko Says

Photo Ukrainian service members hauled a cart of ammunition on Friday in Maryinka, a town near Donetsk where they have been battling pro-Russia separatists. Credit Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press KIEV, Ukraine — In what amounted to a multidimensional confidence-building campaign, President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine tried on Friday to rally international support for his country and to maintain pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, including economic sanctions. Mr. Poroshenko held a major news conference, gave interviews to foreign journalists, spoke by phone with President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and prepared to welcome two visiting prime ministers to Kiev, Shinzo Abe of Japan and Stephen Harper of Canada. His diplomatic activities precede a summit meeting of leaders of the Group of 7 nations that is scheduled to begin Sunday at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, with security issues on the agenda. In each of […]

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Hardening of Positions Undercuts Ukraine Peace Accord

Photo President Petro Poroshenko, in Parliament in Kiev on Thursday, demanded that Russia withdraw all troops from Ukraine. Credit Sergey Dolzhenko/European Pressphoto Agency SHYROKYNE, Ukraine — The trenches near this battered town in southeastern Ukraine slice surreally for miles across fields of sunflowers, in places running in three lines separated by a mile or two of mined ground, Ukrainian commanders say. A feature not just of this bitterly contested ground, the trenches extend in varying degrees of completeness all the way to the northern limits of the line separating Ukraine from the separatist regions in the east. To some extent, they reflect a military necessity, with daily skirmishes along the barrier and occasional flare-ups, like one near Donetsk on Wednesday in which at least 21 people were killed. There is a political subtext as well, a hardening of positions on both sides that is steadily undermining a peace accord […]

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U.N. finds growing signs of Russian involvement in Ukraine war

GENEVA A separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine is revealing increasing evidence, but not yet conclusive legal proof, of Russian state involvement, senior United Nations human rights officials said on Monday. "We are speaking about increasing inflow of (unofficial) fighters and increasing evidence that there are also some (Russian) servicemen involved in fighting," Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told a news conference in Geneva. Russia denies Western accusations that it is backing pro-Russian rebels with arms and troops. On May 21, U.N. officials interviewed two Russians captured in eastern Ukraine. The two men believe they should be treated as captured servicemen, but Russia says they are former soldiers who had left the military. The pair were charged with terrorism by Ukrainian authorities, putting them "between a rock and a hard place", Simonovic said. "It is very difficult to prove whether they are servicemen or not. That is why […]

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Putin Declares Soldiers’ Deaths and Wounds Secret, in War and Peace

MOSCOW — The deaths or wounds of Russian soldiers in “special operations” can be classified as military secrets, even in peacetime, President Vladimir V. Putin decreed on Thursday. The decree comes as Russia faces accusations that it is sending its soldiers clandestinely to fight in Ukraine , an allegation the Kremlin denies. Mr. Putin’s decree amended a law that previously let the military keep soldiers’ deaths or injuries secret only in times of war. Mr. Putin has repeatedly insisted that Russian soldiers are not taking part in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where government forces and pro-Russian separatist rebels have continued despite a cease-fire deal in February. At home, Russia’s political opposition says that by refusing to acknowledge that its soldiers are in combat in Ukraine, the Russian military is unjustly denying them disability payments, and denying their relatives death benefits and other awards. All the while, there are […]

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Armed With Google and YouTube, Analysts Gauge Russia’s Presence in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — An unusual investigation using publicly available videos, smartphone photographs and satellite images shows that Russia is continuing to defy the West by conducting protracted military operations inside Ukraine , according to an independent report. Russia has long dismissed Western allegations that its military has intervened in Ukraine as little more than computer-generated propaganda. In an attempt to puncture the Russian denials, independent experts have operated like digital Sherlock Holmeses, using Google’s Street View, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, satellite photographs and Russia’s version of Facebook, including social media updates by Russian soldiers. That research was then supplemented by more traditional sources like court documents and local media reports. “Independent researchers, using open sources and rigorous methodology, have demonstrated that Russian troops and Russian weapons have been an important part of the fight in Ukraine’s east,” said John E. Herbst, a former American ambassador to Ukraine and one of the […]

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Ukraine Says It Has Captured 2 Russian Soldiers

MOSCOW — The Ukrainian government said on Monday that it had captured two wounded Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine and would prosecute them on terrorism charges, prompting a spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin to repeat the Kremlin’s longstanding denial that any Russian troops had been deployed across the border. The soldiers were identified by Gen. Viktor Muzhenko, the chief of the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as Capt. Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sgt. Aleksandr Aleksandrov of the Third Special Forces Brigade, which is based in Togliatti, a city in southern Russia . Russia’s denials that its active duty soldiers have been fighting in eastern Ukraine have continued despite substantial evidence to the contrary, including the funerals of young Russian soldiers killed in action. The Kremlin has acknowledged that some Russians have participated in the fighting, but says that they are volunteers who often choose to fight […]

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Ukrainian shale handcuffed, company says

Ukrainian shale explorer granted more areas for work, but says business climate too cost prohibitive to start drilling campaign. File Photo by ekina/Shutterstock LONDON, May 18 (UPI) — Junior shale explorer JXK Oil & Gas said Monday it was granted more areas for work in Ukraine, though the cost of business was still prohibitive to drilling. JXK, which has headquarters in London, said Ukrainian authorities expanded by 13 square miles its production license in the Elizavetovskoye area, to bring the total to 40 square miles. The company started a multistage hydraulic fracturing operation in Ukraine in 2013, describing it as likely the largest operation of its kind in Europe to date. The company said it was pleased with the license expansion, but was unable to continue with operations in the country. "This further award is recognition of our ability to develop the potential of our Ukrainian licenses," JKX Chief […]

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Special Report: Russian soldiers quit over Ukraine

MOSCOW/DONETSK Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine, several soldiers and human rights activists have told Reuters. Their accounts call into question the Kremlin’s continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers. Evidence for Russians fighting in Ukraine – Russian army equipment found in the country, testimony from soldiers’ families and from Ukrainians who say they were captured by Russian paratroopers – is abundant. Associates of Boris Nemtsov, a prominent Kremlin critic killed in February, will soon publish a report which they say will contain new evidence of the Russian military presence in Ukraine. Until now, however, it has been extremely rare to find Russian soldiers who have fought there and are willing to talk. It is even rarer to find soldiers who have quit the army. Five soldiers who […]

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New Fighting Threatens Ukraine Truce

Russia and Ukraine agreed to call for the pullback of more weaponry from the front lines in eastern Ukraine, amid a recent increase in violence between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed rebels. Photo: AP. KIEV, Ukraine—A sharp uptick in fighting between government troops and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine claimed at least seven lives in the last 24 hours, highlighting the continued volatility despite a two-month-old truce. The casualty toll marks the worst violence in the region since Feb. 19 , when dozens of Ukrainian troops were killed during the withdrawal from the key transportation hub of Debaltseve. Since then, a cease-fire deal signed Feb. 12 has largely held, although progress on other elements of the peace plan has been slow. The surge in fighting came just hours after foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany met in Berlin to try push ahead with the next steps . […]

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EU to Host Russia, Ukraine Gas Talks April 14

BRUSSELS–The European Union will host the next round of gas talks between Ukraine and Russia on April 14 in Berlin, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Ukraine and Russia said last month that they would seek to negotiate a deal that would ensure natural-gas deliveries to Ukraine and the European Union until a dispute over unpaid bills has been settled. The first round of those talks took place in Brussels on March 20. The talks would be about the price of Russia’s gas exports, the amount Ukraine needs to import for gas storage as well as financial support to Ukraine, said a spokeswoman for the commission, the EU’s executive arm. Last week, Russia and Ukraine extended an interim gas deal through the end of the second quarter, the largest Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said, giving the sides time to negotiate a longer-term deal.

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Ukrainian Leader Is Open to a Vote on Regional Power

Photo A man collected debris on the roof of a burned house after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Monday. Credit Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images MOSCOW — President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine on Monday denounced calls for “federalization” of the country, which Russia has endorsed as a way of granting political autonomy to the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Establishing greater local autonomy and governmental authority is widely viewed as crucial to settling the nearly yearlong war in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and it was a central plank in a cease-fire accord signed in February. But there are fierce disagreements over how to shape those powers, and how far they would extend. Speaking at the first meeting of a commission charged with developing amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution, Mr. Poroshenko described federalization as tantamount to breaking apart the country, and said […]

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Ukraine to triple gas imports from Russia in April – Russian minister

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine has asked for 1 billion cubic meters of gas imports from Russia in April, trebling the amount it received in March, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday. On Thursday, Ukraine’s state gas concern Naftogaz and Russia’s Gazprom signed an interim deal for cheaper supplies of gas from Russia for the next three months, providing a breathing space for both sides in their protracted wrangle over pricing. "Naftogaz has contracted 1 billion cubic meters of gas for April," Novak said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya television station. This suggests that Kiev will be getting about 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, while in March the figure stood at around 10 million per day, Novak said in the interview for the news show ‘Vesti on Saturday’ with Sergei Brilyov. Under the agreement signed on Thursday, Kiev is to pay $248 per […]

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Ukraine says signs deal to buy Russian gas at lower price

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine has signed a new agreement to buy Russian gas over the next three months at $248 per thousand cubic meters, after paying $329 in the first quarter of this year under the just expired ‘winter package’, the Ukrainian energy ministry said on Thursday. Despite being at loggerheads over a separatist rebellion in east Ukraine, the two sides are bound by a 10-year gas agreement signed in 2009 which successive Kiev governments say carries an onerous price that weighs heavily on the economy. Apart from the price, the latest agreement extended all the other terms of the ‘winter package’ which has just lapsed between Ukraine’s state gas concern Naftogaz and Russia’s gas giant Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ), the ministry said in a statement. The agreement represented a "victory" for an economic approach to relations between Naftogaz and Gazprom over a political one, Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn […]

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Ukraine to Temporarily Stop Buying Natural Gas From Russia

ENLARGE A natural gas line runs through the countryside near Donetsk, Ukraine. Kiev started to diversify away from its eastern neighbor as tensions between the countries escalated last spring. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images KIEV, Ukraine—Ukraine will temporarily stop buying natural gas from Russia on April 1 as the current interim deal expires , the country’s energy minister said on Monday, citing high prices. Kiev, which is heavily reliant on Russian gas, started to diversify away from its eastern neighbor as tensions between the countries escalated last spring, seeking independence from Russian gas shipments in three to four years. Currently “there’s no reason to buy [Russian gas] at a higher price than we can buy from Europe, so I think we’ll just stop buying it,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told a briefing in Kiev. In October, Ukraine and Russia struck a temporary deal to ensure uninterrupted transit of Russian […]

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Rebels Plan Offensive in East as Ukraine Fortifies Key Port

A Ukrainian soldier walks near a position of the Ukrainian forces near the village of Pervomayske. Photographer: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images (Bloomberg) — Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine are preparing for a new offensive to expand their territory, signaling a six-week-old truce is in danger of crumbling. “We’ll try to push them from here to hell because we’re tired of them killing civilians with indiscriminate fire,” Alexander Khodakovsky, who commands the 3,500-man Vostok Brigade, said in an interview at his headquarters in Donetsk. The campaign may start in the “foreseeable future,” according to Khodakovsky, who also heads the security council of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. A rebel offensive would shatter the cease-fire negotiated last month in Minsk, Belarus, and raise the risk of escalating U.S. and European Union sanctions against Russia, which they blame for stoking the conflict. Ukraine and Germany, which brokered the accord with France, […]

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Ukraine Wants to Double Gas Transit Fees for Gazprom, Says Energy Minister

ENLARGE A natural gas line outside Donetsk, Ukraine. The country wants to almost double the fees it charges Russia’s Gazprom to transit gas through Ukraine to the European Union. Photo: Getty Images KIEV, Ukraine—Fresh talks on Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine will begin Friday in Brussels but no deal is imminent as Moscow and Kiev continue to quarrel over prices and transit fees, Ukraine’s energy minister said Thursday. Volodymyr Demchyshyn said that he and his Russian peer, Alexander Novak, earlier Thursday agreed to launch talks in the European Union capital, but said, “Russia doesn’t want to sign any specific documents, but let’s see how they do it.” Ukraine wants to almost double the fees it charges state-owned OAO Gazprom to transit Russian gas through Ukraine to the European Union , Mr. Demchyshyn said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. The two sides need to resolve this, […]

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China orders over 600,000 ton Ukrainian corn, snubs U.S. supplies

BEIJING (Reuters) – China, the world’s second largest corn consumer, has booked over 600,000 tonnes of corn from Ukraine this year and more deals are expected as Beijing’s stockpiling dries up supplies and boosts domestic prices. China’s move to import Black Sea shipments under a loan-for-grain deal is seen as a blow to U.S. corn exporters who are struggling to sell the country’s record crop. U.S. corn futures fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, trading near a six-week low with additional pressure from China’s purchases of Ukrainian corn. Some of the Ukraine cargoes for April-May shipment were struck at about 1,500 yuan ($240) per ton, including cost and freight, said one buyer. The price is about 60 percent lower than domestic corn quoted at 2,490 yuan per ton in the major port of Shenzhen. U.S. corn is quoted about 80 yuan ($13) per ton cheaper than Ukraine […]

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IMF: Energy reforms key to Ukraine’s success

With bailout in hand, the International Monetary Fund nonetheless says Ukrainian economic woes stem from "deep-rooted" issues. UPI/Ivan Vakolenko Energy sector reforms and the addressing of "deep-rooted" structural issues in Ukraine will return the country’s economy to growth, the IMF said. The International Monetary Fund announced it approved the immediate disbursement of about $5 billion to Ukraine, with a little more than half of that allocated to budget support for the former Soviet republic. The Ukrainian administration that took over in the wake of political upheaval in late 2013 said the economy was left in shambles by former President Viktor Yanukovych . More than a year later, the IMF said real gross domestic product is expected to contract by 5.5 percent. Gripped by conflict and interference by its former Soviet patrons, the IMF nonetheless said some of the onus lies with Kiev . "Addressing deep-rooted structural problems is critical […]

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Obama Said to Resist Growing Pressure From All Sides to Arm Ukraine

WASHINGTON — As American intelligence agencies have detected new Russian tanks and artillery crossing the border into Ukraine in recent days, President Obama is coming under increasing pressure from both parties and more officials inside his own government to send arms to the country. But he remains unconvinced that they would help. Democrats joined Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday in unanimously pressing the administration to send weapons to Kiev. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly urged Mr. Obama to consider such a move last week, joining Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. But the president has signaled privately that despite all the pressure, he remains reluctant to send arms. In part, he has told aides and visitors that arming the Ukrainians would encourage the notion that they could actually defeat […]

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Ukraine Says EU Should Help Pay to Store Gas if It Wants to Prepare for Worst Cases

Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn BRUSSELS—The European Union should share the cost of filling Ukraine’s natural-gas storage if it wants to prepare for worst-case scenarios next winter, the country’s energy minister said in an interview, highlighting a potential clash in coming negotiations between the EU, Kiev and Moscow. An EU-mediated deal that helped maintain gas supplies to Ukraine and the rest of Europe during the winter expires at the end of March. The comments by Volodymyr Demchyshyn, a former investment banker who took office in December, underline how difficult it will be to reach a follow-up agreement that ensures deliveries over the summer and beyond. About half of the EU’s gas imports from Russia pass through Ukraine. Mr. Demchyshyn also warned that the government in Kiev might decide to cut off shipments to regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists because of a failure by local energy distributors to pay for […]

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Russia Agrees Dispute Over East Ukraine Gas Won’t Endanger EU Supply

The energy ministers of Russia and Ukraine agreed Monday that a dispute over natural-gas deliveries to some rebel-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine won’t affect supplies to the rest of the country and the European Union. The spat between Ukrainian state gas company OAO Naftogaz and its main supplier, Russia’s OAO Gazprom , had endangered an EU-mediated deal that was meant to secure gas supplies during the cold winter months. It also raised questions on whether the two sides would be able to negotiate a follow-up arrangement to regulate deliveries over the summer months once the winter deal expires at the end of March. The agreement, following talks between the two ministers in Brussels, doesn’t resolve the question of who will ultimately pay for gas delivered by Gazprom to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions but not authorized by Naftogaz. Russian has been backing the rebels in those regions. The pact […]

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Russia Eases Rules on Gas for Rebel-Held Areas of Ukraine — Update

By Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels And Nick Shchetko in Kiev, Ukraine Russia’s energy ministry said Monday that Ukrainian gas company OAO Naftogaz won’t have to make advance payments for unauthorized gas deliveries to rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine. Recent deliveries by Russia’s OAO Gazprom to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be "taken out of the equation" when calculating prepayments for Naftogaz, the ministry tweeted from its verified Twitter account. "This will be a matter of a separate reconciliation and separate negotiations," the ministry added. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was in Brussels Monday for European Union-mediated talks with his Ukrainian counterpart. The talks followed complaints from Naftogaz that Gazprom had been supplying gas to rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine and had reduced deliveries to the rest of the country. Russia has been backing the rebels. Naftogaz claimed that Gazprom was in breach of a supply deal between the […]

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Kremlin: Ukraine has natural gas until Tuesday

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Gas tap for Ukraine may close without additional payments, Russia’s energy minister says. (UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko) MOSCOW, Feb. 27 (UPI) — The natural gas spigot could be closed for Ukraine as early as Tuesday unless it pays for more deliveries in advance, Russia’s energy minister said Friday. Russian energy company Gazprom confirmed it received $15 million from its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz, which ensures gas deliveries until Tuesday . "They can also pay for Tuesday – it depends on them now," Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. "If they want gas, they have to pay." Gazprom in the winters of 2006, 2009 and 2014 cut gas deliveries through Ukraine briefly in response to contractual disputes with Kiev. That left downstream consumers in Europe short on natural gas supplies. The latest payment row coincides with ongoing skirmishes between pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and government […]

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Ukraine Says It Will Pull Back Heavy Weapons as Situation in East Stabilizes

Ukraine’s army said it would begin pulling back heavy weapons from the front lines of the conflict in its eastern region on Thursday. WSJ’s Greg White reports. Photo: Getty MOSCOW—In the clearest sign yet that a cease-fire is taking hold, Ukraine’s army said it would start pulling back heavy weapons from the front lines of its 10-month conflict with Russia-backed militants. Ukraine announced the move Thursday after reporting two days of reduced shelling and no deaths among servicemen. The start of the withdrawal marks the second stage of an agreement struck two weeks ago, aimed at ending the fighting that has cost more than 5,000 lives and created the worst tensions between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Officials in Kiev said shelling was still taking place and expressed concerned that separatists want to continue recent advances and seize more territory, such as the industrial port city […]

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Ukraine’s Naftogaz Withheld Payment After Russia Cut Gas Supplies

ENLARGE Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Andriy Kobolyev said Ukraine had the funds available to make the payment to Russia’s Gazprom for March gas supplies, but wouldn’t say how much money had been set aside. Photo: Bloomberg News BRUSSELS—The chief executive officer of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned natural gas company, said Thursday he couldn’t authorize paying Russia for March gas supplies because of a sharp drop in the amount of gas delivered by OAO Gazprom since Feb. 22. Russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine for nonpayment but Andriy Kobolyev said in a telephone interview from Kiev that Gazprom had been delivering 42 million cubic meters of gas daily to Ukraine, instead of 112 mcm as had been contracted. This was in breach of the gas-supply agreement signed on Oct. 30 in Brussels and meant he couldn’t responsibly authorize a prepayment to Gazprom for March gas deliveries. “There […]

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Ukraine says it pays for gas, Russia demands more

MOSCOW (AP) — Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz announced Friday that it had paid $15 million for another month of Russian gas, but Moscow says that the sum will only be enough for an additional day of deliveries. Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Naftogaz’s executive, Andrei Kobolev, as saying that the company had paid for gas supplies from Russia for the month of March. But a spokesman for Russian energy giant Gazprom said that the payment was only enough for one additional day of delivery if gas continues to be pumped to Ukraine at the current rate. Following a bruising dispute over prices and debt that raised fears of supply disruptions in Europe, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in October requiring Kiev to pay in advance for gas shipments. President Vladimir Putin and other government officials warned earlier this week that Russia would cut off supplies to Ukraine by the […]

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EU Seeks Meeting on New Ukraine-Russia Gas Dispute

ENLARGE A man boils water on an open fire in the town of Svitlodarsk in eastern Ukraine, where shelling has destroyed gas supply infrastructure. Moscow and Kiev are quarreling about who is responsible for supplying and paying for gas to Ukraine’s rebellious east. Photo: Associated Press BRUSSELS—The European Union is trying to convene a three-way meeting with the Ukrainian and Russian energy ministers to resolve the conflict over gas supplies to the separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine. Speaking at a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday, European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said he has proposed that the issues of supplies and the cost of gas for the rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk territories in eastern Ukraine be treated independently of a winter gas supply package. That agreement between Moscow and Kiev was brokered by the EU in late 2014. “I believe that this question, of course, […]

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Gazprom Threatens Natural Gas Deliveries to Ukraine

ENLARGE Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller. He said Gazprom hasn’t received the latest prepayment from Kiev, and that only 219 million cubic meters—enough for two days of deliveries—remained of volumes already purchased. Photo: maxim shipenkov/European Pressphoto Agency The European Commission currently doesn’t expect a standoff between Russia’s and Ukraine’s gas companies to affect supplies to the European Union, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. “At the moment, gas flows to the EU are normal,” said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokeswoman for the EU’s executive. “We expect that the gas transit to the EU won’t be affected by the situation” in eastern Ukraine. The comment follows a warning by Russian state gas company OAO Gazprom that supplies to the EU were at a “serious risk,” after it said Ukraine had failed to make a payment for new shipments. Gazprom said that the remaining volumes that have already been prepaid would last for just […]

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Russia Heightens Dispute With Ukraine Over Natural Gas

MOSCOW — As Russia warned Ukraine on Tuesday that it could run out of natural gas within two days because of a dispute over payments, Britain said it was sending military trainers to aid Ukrainian forces while European diplomats labored to patch up a flagging peace agreement in eastern Ukraine . The warning by Aleksei B. Miller, the chief executive of Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy behemoth, illustrated how the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine are hardly limited to the battlefields in eastern Ukraine, where a cease-fire agreed to nearly two weeks ago has still not fully taken hold . Russia has long used its muscle as the region’s major energy supplier to wield political and economic influence, particularly in disputes with Ukraine and other former Soviet republics. A bitter feud over gas payments has been a subplot of the wider political dispute between Moscow and Kiev over the […]

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