Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Wednesday 11 January. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY

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NEWS:
Compromise with Russia out of question for Ukraine.  Russia Signals Sanctions On Canada's Freeland Can Only Be Lifted Reciprocally.  One Ukrainian soldier killed, three injured yesterday.  Ukraine's Army units took new positions in Svitlodarsk salient.  The Daily Vertical: One Of The Oldest Tricks In The Book.

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Russia has signaled that it will only remove newly appointed Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland from its sanctions list on a reciprocal basis.

Russian news agencies cited an unidentified Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying on January 11 that Freeland has been on a list of Canadians subject to sanctions, which includes a travel ban, since 2014.

Moscow introduced the sanctions list after many Western countries, including Canada, imposed targeted sanctions against Russian officials over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

"The issue of removing her from the response sanctions is an issue of reciprocity and the mirror principle," the Foreign Ministry official said. "The fact that she is blacklisted will not impede contacts with Russian officials at international forums."

Freeland, a former journalist who is of Ukrainian descent, has been a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Moscow imposed sanctions on her, Freeland posted on Twitter that she considered it "an honor to be on Putin’s sanction list."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Freeland as foreign minister on January 10............

Access complete text of the editorial:  rferl.org In English

All the talk about the likely compromise with Russia is part of a plan to liquidate Ukraine’s sovereignty. A compromise can be offered either by open Russia’s agents or pipe-dreamers who do not realize Kremlin’s true intentions, Vitali Portnykov, a renowned political expert told Espreso TV Jan. 11.

The debate about a compromise with Russia was started by tycoon Viktor Pinchuk and ex-diplomat Vasyl Filipchuk against the allegations that Donald Trump might also be thinking about it.

Can Ukraine exist as a neutral state [one of Pinchuk’s proposals]? It should be recalled that Ukraine emerged in 1991 as a neutral non-affiliated state. Its neutrality was confirmed by the Yanukovych cabinet in 2005.

Still, this did not stop Russia from launching a war in Donbas and grabbing Crimea.

The Baltic states are NATO members. That is why Putin attacked Ukraine, because Ukraine is not a NATO member. 

Putin doesn’t need Crimea or Donbas. These territories are millstones for the Russian dictator. At the same time, they are the key to conquer Ukraine.

It can be a military conquest with the help of tanks and bombs. Or it can be a political conquest, when Putin implants a government in Kyiv that will dismantle Ukrainian statehood. 

Russia’s fifth column agents are in abundance both in Ukraine and in the West. Such agents must be red-flagged and wasted. I can offer no other recipe for retaining the sovereignty of Ukraine,” Vitali Plotnykov says.

zik.ua

One Ukrainian soldier was killed, three injured in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in the east of Ukraine on Jan. 10.

This was announced by Defense Ministry spokesperson on ATO matters Oleksandr Motuzianyk at a briefing on Wednesday, Censor.NET reports.

"Over the past 24-hour period, one Ukrainian military was killed in combat, three more received injuries," he said.

According to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Russian hybrid forces and military groups killed 10,000 Ukrainians; more than 20,000 were injured. According to the UN, 9,758 people were killed and 23,000 were injured since the beginning of the ATO.

ua.censor.net.ua , In Ukrainian / на українській мові

Ukrainian detachments deployed in Svitlodarsk area have seized control over important new positions.

As reported by Censor.NET, this was announced by Defense Ministry spokesperson on ATO matters Oleksandr Motuzianyk.

"The situation has been tense there in the past several months. Serious combat is taking place there. As a result of these combat activities, the Ukraine's Armed Forces units have seized control over very important new positions," Motuzianyk said.

ua.censor.net.ua, In Ukrainian / на українській мові

Attempts policy of using "soft power" influence the residents of Latvia are not particularly successful.

As Tsenzor.NET citing Delfi , it said the president of Latvia Raimonds Latvian Veyonis broadcast television.

In his view, these efforts do not give such a result, which would be the other side.

On the question of whether to do a Latvian Russian language media, the president answered that need, as there is a part of society that is more speak Russian. He said: "The question, of course, content."

"But mainly, of course, all have to learn the Latvian language and Latvian channels to watch," - he added.

ua.censor.net.ua, In Ukrainian / на українській мові

According to him, can not officially ask a member of the mission with which he country, but about "suspicious" informed observers



The head of the Ukrainian side STSKK Major General Boris Kremenetskiy convinced that Russian officers to the OSCE - a game or staff members of the FSB. He said this in an interview "Ukrainian Truth".

"I believe that any Russian officers to the OSCE - a human staff or game, or FSB. Other there just can not be. But they - the members of the mission, so have all the privileges and prestige, which are observers of the OSCE, regardless of nationality . Therefore, we can not formally ask of him, which he country. this may be John Smith, but a Russian by nationality. or it could be Ivan Ivanov, a Bulgarian, an American, or anyone,"- said Kremenetskiy.

According to him, one of the observers are representatives of European countries, but defended St. Petersburg job on "freedom fighters Donbass", but this is a special case.

"The OSCE with 652 observers, 39 - n. But we have no guarantee that other countries can not supply information. There are a lot of former officers from other countries who once studied in Soviet military schools. But if we notice any observer suspicious cases, we inform about it"- said Major General Boris Kremenetskiy.

Recall recently head of the OSCE, Federal Minister for European, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz said that the work of the mission in Donbass should be improved. In particular, he noted that there were good ideas to ensure round the clock monitoring of the ceasefire.

ua.112.ua, In Ukrainian / на українській мові

Trump nominee treads delicate path on Moscow but talks tough on China and radical Islam


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Rex Tillerson is setting out his case to be Donald Trump’s secretary of state with a call for the US to chart a new relationship with Russia that takes into account Moscow’s interests and ambitions — even as he labels the country a “danger” that needs to be held to account for its actions.

In prepared remarks for his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, one of the most highly charged events in Washington ahead of Mr Trump’s inauguration next week, the former Exxon chief is also set to call for a tough US approach on China and an unambiguous drive against radical Islam.

The comments, obtained by the Washington Post, highlight Mr Tillerson’s approach in dealing with criticism that both he and Mr Trump may be too close to Russian president Vladimir Putin for the comfort of leading Democrats and Republicans.

“[We] need an open and frank dialogue with Russia regarding its ambitions, so that we know how to chart our own course,” Mr Tillerson will say, according to the Post’s reporting. “Where co-operation with Russia based on common interests is possible, such as reducing the global threat of terrorism, we ought to explore these options.”

But he added: “Russia must know that we will be accountable to our commitments and those of our allies, and that Russia must be held to account for its actions.”

On Wednesday, Mr Trump, who has resisted intelligence agencies’ conclusions that the Kremlin sought to aid his election, tweeted that he had “nothing to do with Russia”, as he elaborated on his denial of unsubstantiated claims that Moscow held compromising material on him..............

Access complete text of the editorial:   (Financial Times) In English

BY Ukraine Clinton office helped find dirt on Trump, who had hurt his campaign

The publication Politico published its own investigation into the alleged intervention of the Ukrainian government in the election campaign of US President, reports the publication.

"According to the investigation Politico, Ukrainian officials tried to help Hillary Clinton publicly questioned Trump candidacy. They also distributed documents implicating top aide to corruption and offered to investigate the matter. They also helped Clinton allies seek slanderous information about Trump and his advisers", - stated in the material.

In particular, they mention "ambarnu book" The Party of Regions and the name of the American spin doctor Paul Manafort, which is there indicated. In turn, Paul Manafort, which was formerly the headquarters of former president Viktor Yanukovych, and by the summer of this year was the manager of the campaign of Donald Trump, but left the team because of the scandal made public "black fund" Party of Regions.

"Ukrainian efforts have affected the outcome of the race, forcing Manafort resign, and in disseminating information campaign Trump was deeply connected with the enemy in the East Ukraine - Russia. But they were much less coordinated or centrally directed than the alleged hacker attacks on the part of the Democrats,"- said the publication.

glavcom.ua , In Ukrainian / на українській мові