Новости за 02.12.2015

NATO's membership offer to Montenegro has set off a firestorm of protest from Moscow that might seem outsized considering the small scale of the Balkan country and its minimal military force.

Russia's parliament has moved closer to allowing the Constitutional Court to decide that international court rulings can be flouted if they are deemed to contradict Russia's Constitution. Since the very law is in breach of this same Constitution, there seems every reason to suspect that the law will be invoked whenever Moscow does not wish to comply with international law.

Estonia's prime minister said on Dec. 2 he does not believe Russia will attack the Baltic state, despite "worrying" developments such as Russian air incursions and military exercises near its borders this year.

Yury Soloshenko is not Russia's only Ukrainian hostage, tried and convicted on absurd charges, but he is the only one who has been issued a death sentence. The 73-year-old pensioner from Poltava, who has a heart condition, is certain that he will not survive even the arduous journey to a Russian prison colony. Human rights activist Zoya Svetova clearly agrees, calling his situation one of life or death.

US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ukraine on Dec. 2, hoping to reassure Kyiv that it will not be abandoned as the West seeks to enlist Russia in the fight against the Islamic State group.

The World Health Organization is urging Ukraine's health ministry to declare a state of emergency due to a polio outbreak, a move meant to prompt more action from the government in Kyiv.

Representatives of the export-oriented IT sector have met with Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and her deputy Olena Makeieva to discuss changes in the Tax Code that are related to taxation in the sector, the European Business Association's IT Committee, which initiated the meeting, has reported.

A controversial Ukrainian oligarch had his attempts to return to Kyiv for the first time in nearly two years stymied on Dec. 2, after the interior minister threatened to have him arrested at the airport by a group of far-right fighters.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address Ukraine's parliament next week during a visit U.S. officials say is aimed at showing Ukraine - and Russia - Washington's continued support for Kyiv.

VIENNA - Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash said the Ukrainian government is politically bankrupt and will probably fall early next year, in his most outspoken criticism of the pro-Western leadership in Kyiv since it came to power almost two years ago.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said he is sure the European Union will prolong sanctions against Russia.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is now on a working visit to Vilnius, Lithuania, on Dec. 2, has met with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius to discuss bilateral economic and political cooperation.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry officials informed the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM OSCE) on where the weapons and other military hardware subject to withdrawal under the Minsk agreements are exactly located in the Donbas territories beyond Kyiv's control.

BRUSSELS - The sanctions against Russia are removed if only Russia adheres by all items of the Minsk Agreements, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Iceland will simplify travel rules for Ukrainians since December 1, 2015, and Denmark will do the same since Jan. 1, 2016, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

In the wake of recent terror attacks in Paris, President François Hollande has called for Russian and American cooperation against ISIS, joining many other policymakers who have voiced the need for cooperation between Russian and American intelligence agencies against Islamic terrorism.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will visit the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman at the invitation of the commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet and the U.S. Naval Forces Europe commander on Dec. 2.

NATO's top commander warned on Dec. 2 there was little chance that Russia would meet a year-end deadline for a peace deal in eastern Ukraine, saying the calmer situation there did not mean the end of the conflict was near.

Ukraine will not back away from implementing a free trade agreement with the European Union on Jan. 1, 2016, despite Russian protests and threats of sanctions, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said on Dec. 2

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Dec. 2 said Kyiv was open to last-minute talks aimed at overcoming fierce Russian opposition to a free trade accord between his country and the European Union.

BRUSSELS - NATO does not intend to restore cooperation with Russia but intends to maintain a necessary level of engagement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

BRUSSELS - Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that NATO is committed to supporting a peaceful, diplomatic end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

An armed clash between Ukrainian troops and opposing forces took place on the outskirts of the town of Avdiyivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Dec. 2, Ukrainian Presidential Administration spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

The Russian-annexed peninsula of Crimea remains in the dark. Russian leaders have promised power will soon be restored, while Ukrainian activists say they are moving on to a sea blockade to completely isolate the annexed territory, local media reported on Dec. 2.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address Ukraine's legislature on Dec. 8 as part of a two-day visit to the country, a senior administration official said.