Ukraine News in brief. Wednesday 15 November. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY HEADLINES:
The US is ready to tighten sanctions against Russia. The US Congress has taken an important decision on deliveries of lethal weapons to Ukraine.  Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, believes that the issue of Ukraine is not a priority for US President Donald Trump.  Putin wants Ukraine at all costs, but he made a big mistake.  Kremlin has not confirmed the approval of the US proposal to host 20,000 peacekeepers in the Donbas.  In Britain, Russia has been accused of cyberattacks in the media and the energy sector.  Mitchell - Poroshenko: US will continue to support Ukraine and are ready, if necessary, to increase the price for Moscow for the continuation of aggression.  Putin has promised Kumov Medvedchuk to talk with terrorists Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky about the exchange of prisoners. There was a forecast whether Russia would intervene in the situation in the event of Ukraine's attempt to seize Transnistria. Representatives of any states, except Russia, may be part of a peacekeeping mission to the Donbas. The new UN resolution on the Crimea is a clear signal of the need to increase pressure on the Russian Federatio. oltorak in Canada: We exclude the possibility of Russia's participation in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Donbas.

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US Assistant Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Europe and Eurasia Wess Mitchell said Washington was ready toughen sanctions against Russia.

He stated this during a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the press service of the President said.

In particular, Mitchell emphasized the importance of his visit to Ukraine and assured that the United States will continue to assist Ukraine in its efforts to develop and strengthen the country.

"The Assistant Secretary-General of the United States confirmed his willingness to continue supporting Ukraine's efforts to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and, if necessary, to increase the price for Moscow for the continuation of aggression against the Ukrainian state," the statement said.

For the first time Mitchell is in Ukraine with an official visit. He received his appointment in early November, which Tillerson told Poroshenko.

Before that, Tillerson has approved a list of Russian companies involved in the intelligence and defense sector, which will be subject to US sanctions.

espreso.tv , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The House of Representatives of the US Congress voted to allocate $ 350 million to help Ukraine in the security sector. This amount corresponds to last year's level of appropriation.

This is reported by the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States on its Facebook page.

The House of Representatives approved a bill on "US budget for 2018 for national defense needs".

This document gives permission to provide Ukraine with a lethal weapon of a defensive character. Also included in the bill are new provisions that allow the use of US defense budget for the rehabilitation needs of wounded Ukrainian soldiers in medical institutions in the United States, training and training of Ukrainian medical professionals in this area, as well as for strengthening the capabilities of the air and naval forces of our state.

It is emphasized that for the first time at the legislative level it is proposed to provide Ukraine with such defense armaments, such as radar air defense and surveillance of the surface, naval assets, as well as coastal and coastal ships.

Now the bill on the budget must be approved by the Senate, after which it will be submitted to the US president for signature.



The Russian opposition, Konstantin Borovoy, told the "Apostrophe" about what Ukraine needs to do for lethal weapons from the United States.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The expert said in a comment to the "Apostrophe".

"Ukraine is not in the focus of his attention - it is definitely. He handed this question to Volker, and Tillerson is involved with this, so I do not think that Trump holds Ukraine in his mind as a special problem," said Bystritsky.

In turn, a political expert, a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Taras Chornovil pointed to the feature of Tramp's behavior.

"To hug a person, tell me how you want to be friends with him, and while giving it a smoke - it's in the style of Trump. Only Putin, driven to a dead end, can do anything, and it's hard to predict something here," Chornovil said.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The purpose of the president of the Russian aggressor Vladimir Putin is the restoration of the empire, but without Ukraine it is impossible.

According to Censor.NET , referring to the League, Polish Defense Minister Anthony Maceriewicz said in an interview with The New York Observer.

"He (the president of the Russian Federation, ed.) Wants Ukraine. At all costs, Putin has a lot of undisclosed cards, he wants to restore the empire," said the Polish Minister of Defense.

According to him, Putin is convinced that Ukraine should be an integral part of the empire.

Matsurevich believes that Putin is a long-term project, but he has already made a mistake.

"He made a big mistake: thanks to Putin, American troops are not far from the Ukrainian border, and probably lost Kiev! This never happened since the 17th century," the Polish Minister of Defense emphasized.

He added that it was Putin's actions that forced many into NATO to open their eyes.

"The Russians are ready for war, and NATO should also be ready. We are moving too slowly, and this is a problem," said Matsurevich.

Matsurevich does not reject that the Russian Federation can begin military operations in the Far East.

"They want to distract Americans, continue the front of the confrontation to create a comfortable position for aggression in Europe. If you look at the map, then to understand: Russia always helps the enemies of America: close ties with the DPRK, interference in Afghanistan and Syria, support for Iran ", - the Polish minister is sure.

On August 14, the Polish Minister of Defense said that the invasion of Georgia and Ukraine is a result of condemnation of the Russian Federation.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov did not confirm information that the US side received proposals to place peacekeepers in the Donbass with a population of 20,000.

"These all messages do not correspond to reality," he said, reports Interfax.

Peskov did not comment on the outcome of the meeting in Belgrade with Putin's assistant Vladislav Surkov with the US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volcker, noting that the media's announcement of the American side's proposals is not true.

"I'm not ready to provide information on this," said Peskov, at the request of journalists, to clarify which three points out of 29, submitted by the United States, were approved by the Russian side.

On the eve of Putin's assistant Surkov said that Russia had agreed on three of the 29 paragraphs of the US proposal to deploy peacekeepers in the Donbass. He did not report what points he supported the Russian Federation.

On November 10, it was reported that the United States would offer Russia to place 20,000 peacekeepers in the Donbass .

On November 11, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informed that Ukraine and the United States agreed to deploy a peacekeeping mission to the Donbas .

For Ukraine, it is crucial to deploy a mission throughout the Donbas, an agreement without the consent of the militants, and the absence of Russian troops among UN peacekeepers.

In September, Russian President Putin instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to bring to the UN Security Council a draft resolution on peacekeepers in the Donbas . Putin called the peacekeeping mission exclusively on the clash line. But after talking to Merkel, Putin agreed to take into account the comments on the mission. Poroshenko assured that the introduction of UN peacekeepers to the Donbas will not happen under the scenario of Russia.

hromadske.ua, Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The head of the National Cybersecurity Center of Great Britain, Cyrene Martin, said that Russia had been interfering with cyberattacks in the British media, the telecommunications and energy sectors.

This is reported by The Telegraph.

"I can not go into the details of the intelligence, but I can confirm that the Russian intervention (in the election) , which was recorded by the National Center for Cyber ​​Security, included attacks on the British media, communications and the energy bloc," Martin said.

According to him, Russia is trying to "undermine the international system", and its actions are "a cause for concern".

On the eve of Premier UK Teresa May has accused Russia of interfering in elections and attempts to "make weapons information".

hromadske.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with the newly appointed Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell.

The interlocutors discussed in detail the complex of issues of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States and coordinated the priority steps in their strengthening in the best interests of both parties and joint defense and promotion of freedom and democracy, the rule of law and human rights, reports the Censor. NET with reference to the press service of the AP.

It noted the importance of new approaches and bold initiatives to fill strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States - from enhanced political, trade, economic and energy cooperation to strengthening defense and security partnerships between the parties.

The interlocutors discussed the course of reforms in Ukraine. The President stressed the significant changes that Ukraine has made. "I am absolutely convinced that there is no country in the world that would implement such a number of reforms in various spheres during the war, and we have strong support for our reforms by the United States," said Petro Poroshenko, adding that this is a confirmation of our strategic partnership.

Petro Poroshenko also thanked the American side and its significant contribution to the development of the new Ukrainian army in the face of Russian aggression.

The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs stressed the importance of a visit to Ukraine. Vesc Mitchell assured that the United States will continue to assist Ukraine in its efforts to develop and strengthen the country, as well as further coordination of efforts to ensure reliable and effective international support of our state.

"What you and your team have achieved in a very short period of time is amazing. It's just phenomenal that so much has been done over the past three years," said Wess Mitchell.

The Assistant Secretary-General of the United States confirmed his readiness to continue supporting Ukraine's efforts to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and, if necessary, increase the price for Moscow for the continuation of aggression against the Ukrainian state.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The leader of the movement "Ukrainian choice" Medvedchuk, who is godfather Vladimir Putin addressed the Russian leader discussed the proposal with leaders of "L / DNR" the exchange of prisoners.

According to Tsensor.NET , a video of Putin and Medvedchuk, which took place during the visit of Putin to the Novo-Jerusalem Monastery, showed the TV channel "Russia 24".



"I want to appeal to you with a request to show humanism and to address the heads of unrecognized republics Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky to hold this exchange as the first stage of the exchange of all at all and to release these individuals," Medvedchuk said.

"I will do everything that depends on me, negotiating with the leadership of the" Donetsk republic ", and" Lugansk republic. "I hope that what you have proposed will be implemented, and as soon as possible," Putin answered.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russia is likely to intervene in the situation if Ukraine for some reason decides to seize the unrecognized Transnistria.

This opinion was expressed in a comment to the "Apostrophe" by Russian journalist and publicist Leonid Radzihovsky.

"As for what interests Russia ... I think that Russia is interested in one thing - to speak less about Transnistria, because Russia today is neither interesting nor important on any side," he says.

According to the journalist, Russia's intervention in the problem of an unrecognized republic needs money that it does not have.

"As Dodon correctly said, now even Russia does not supply gas to Transnistria for free," Radzihovsky said.

At the same time, he assumes that if circumstances arise, in which Transnistria will have to be saved from someone, then Moscow will mention it.

"But if Ukraine were to lose sight and to really seize Transnistria's needs of nobody, then Moscow would probably have intervened. Or if Chisinau suddenly had a chance and would send troops to Transnistria ... In other words, Moscow would again be interested Transnistria, he needs to be saved from someone, but he absolutely can not be saved from anyone, except for the leaders of Transnistria, from which it is impossible to save,"- says Radzihovsky.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

For Ukraine, acceptable representatives of any states in the peacekeeping mission in the Donbass, with the exception of Russia, said Irina Friz, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense, (the "Petro Poroshenko Bloc" faction).

"For Ukraine, any member of the peacekeeping mission is acceptable to the Russian troops," said I.Frez, " Interfax-Ukraine ", commenting on the statement of Foreign Minister of Belarus, Vladimir Makeyev, on the readiness of Minsk to participate in a peacekeeping mission to the Donbas, reports Tsensor .NET .

Earlier on Wednesday, the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stated that Minsk was ready to allocate its peacekeepers, if necessary, for security in the Donbass.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe Dmitry Kuleba called the draft UN resolution on the Crimea a clear signal to increase rather than reduce pressure on Russia.

As Censor.NET informs, he wrote about this on his Twitter page on Wednesday.

"The new UN resolution on the Crimea is also very important for the Council of Europe, which is a clear signal that needs to be increased, not to reduce pressure on Russia: the plans to return Russians to the PACE in January 2018 are the same pressure reduction. The CE must act responsibly and protect, and not to trade principles", - wrote Кулеба.

Earlier, the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations supported the resolution "Situation in the field of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol" (A / C.3 / 72 / L.42) initiated by the Ukrainian delegation.

The resolution, in particular, calls on Russia to take all necessary measures to put an immediate end to the violation and harassment of human rights in relation to the inhabitants of the Crimea, as well as to respect the laws in force in Ukraine and to abolish the laws introduced in the Crimea by the Russian Federation and permit the forced eviction and confiscation private property in the Crimea in violation of applicable norms of international law.

According to the resolution, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly also condemns the illegal establishment of the laws, jurisdiction and administration of the Russian Federation in the occupied Crimea, and demands that Russia comply with its obligations under international law to respect the laws that were in force in the Crimea before occupation;

The document also calls on the Russian Federation to immediately cancel the decision on the announcement by the extremism of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and the prohibition of its activities, as well as to ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.

ua.censor.net.ua, Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

During his visit to Vancouver, Canada, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak met with Canada's Minister of National Defense Harjit Sajjan.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense , Tsensor.NET informs.

It was noted that the meeting of the Defense Minister of Ukraine, General of the Army of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak, with the Minister of National Defense of Canada, Harjit Sajjan, was held in the hall of the Conference Center of the Canadian city of Vancouver.



"The main issue - the future UN peacekeeping mission with a mandate of activities should be deployed in the entire temporarily occupied territory, the main requirement is to provide international control over a part of the Ukrainian-Russian state the border in the conflict zone and the withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine of all illegal armed units and units of the Russian Federation, as well as the establishment by the Mission of control over the state of storage I am heavy weaponry", - said the Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

"We reject the possibility of Russia's participation in the upcoming Mission. I believe that the Mission on the Donbass is possible and with the support of our international friends. The planned implementation will be possible," added the General of the Army of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak. Photo: Press Service of the Ministry of Defense As it was reported, on September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed the opinion that the presence of UN peacekeepers in the Donbass would be in favor of resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine , and instructed the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a draft resolution for consideration by the UN Security Council. First vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group on the situation in the Donbass Iryna Gerashchenko stated that the introduction of a UN peacekeeping mission on the line of collision in eastern Ukraine can not be the language,



peacekeepers should be introduced to the entire territory occupied by Russia.

The Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasyl Nebenzha, said that the Russian side had sent a draft resolution on the deployment of peacekeepers to Donbass to the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Security Council. In numerous statements by the Russian authorities, it was emphasized that peacekeepers should be placed only on the line of delimitation of the conflicting parties, but not on the entire occupied territory of the Donbas, and especially not on the Russian-Ukrainian border. Later, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Putin had agreed to deploy peacekeepers across the Donbass to protect OSCE staff.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою