Mediaboss Marketing

Ukraine has banned the American action movie star Steven Seagal, who last year received Russian citizenship in a ceremony from President Vladimir Putin.

A spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, confirmed the blacklisting of Seagal, a martial arts expert whose father was a Jew of Russian descent, in a statement sent last week to the Apostrophe news site.

Seagal will be barred from entering Ukraine for five years according to an SBU directive not to admit anyone it deems to have committed a socially dangerous act, irrespective of the territory of its commission, which is contrary to the interests of ensuring the security of Ukraine, the spokesman wrote in a statement dated May 5. It was a reply to a query about Seagal by Apostrophe from last month.

Seagal visited Crimea shortly after it was annexed by Russia in the spring of 2014. The actor, who is also a musician, performed in Sevastopol. Under Ukrainian law, visitors to Russian-controlled Crimea are committing a felony unless they receive permission from Ukraines government.

In November, Putin presented Seagal with a Russian passport at a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, calling him one of Russias many friends.

Vadim Rabinovich (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)

Separately, the Facebook page of an SBU general on Tuesday featured anti-Semitic statements written under his name. According to the Unian news agency, Maj.-Gen. Vasyl Vovk, the former head of the SBUs main investigation department, recently retired to the reserves from active duty.

I have everything against the Jews, the text attributed to Vovk read. You are not Ukrainians and I will destroy you and Rabinovich. Let me tell you again go to hell, k****, the Ukrainian nation has had it with you.

Vadim Rabinovich is a Ukrainian Jewish lawmaker.

Continued here:
Steven Seagal, Putin ally, barred from Ukraine - The Times of Israel

A different Euro vision there are hopes that Kievs hosting of the annual pop-fest will tempt more British tourists to visit. Photograph: RastislavSedlak/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Kiev is sparkling and radiant as spring sunshine sets the gilded baroque churches ablaze. Snow banks begin to melt; shoulders drop and faces soften. The city, and its people, look newborn.

Kiev may have a reputation for political unrest (gained during the Maidan protest-cum-revolution of winter 2013-14) but todays visitors are unlikely to see it. Instead, this city offers tourists a taste of bar life with an edge, softened this week at least with a dollop of Eurovision kitsch.

Visitor numbers to Ukraine were never huge 81,000 Brits came in 2013 but Kiev deserves more, and hopes the Eurovision Song Contest, staged there this week will reignite interest, and that cheap Ryanair flights from Stansted (starting in October) will tempt more British visitors. But what could really boost visitor numbers is the citys creative edginess: it has a lively underground arts and nightlife scene, and an underdog atmosphere.

We have young people looking outwards, while living in a messy place

On a Saturday night out, the Alchemist Bar on Shota Rustaveli Street announces itself through a twang of soundchecking guitar. We follow the noise into the basement, where a man with an Amish-type beard foot-stomps on stage as he tunes up. Tonights band, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, kick off with a cover of Return to Sender. Its an ironic opener but it gets the crowd mainly dressed in vintage clothes on their feet. Over cheap Old Fashioned cocktails (3.50) we talk of the lineup for Kievs new Atlas Weekend festival in June. This year, British performers Nothing But Thieves and The Prodigy will play with local bands such as the Hardkiss and Pianoboy.

In Kiev, we dont get many top pop stars visiting, so we tend to focus on our own performers, like Dakh Daughters [the avant-garde, seven-piece, all-female group who played to protesters at the Maidan, and will play Atlas Weekend], says Bohdan, himself a musician. Its one of the best cities for techno and underground parties, adds his friend, Pavlo.

Next morning, indie bookstore Kharms, in a courtyard off Volodymyrska Street, is crammed with people browsing old LPs. Vintage cameras sit on shelves and abstract Polaroid photos line the walls. I chat with a couple on the next table who are fans of Pianoboy, real name Dmitry Shurov, a local composer and musician.

Later on, Shurov and I order tea in his favourite cafe, On Stanislavsky. Its a busy, bohemian place with rug-strewn floors and ironic art on the walls. Shurov tells me culture is one of the only things not in crisis in Ukraine, and that musicians are more trusted than politicians. Its not meant to be that way: its painful.

He also sees Eurovision as a positive force: The only things people know about Ukraine are Chernobyl and the war. Eurovision is about having something that is Ukrainian and good. Kiev is like the India of Europe. It is mystical and unpredictable, and has a chaotic energy. Hidden talents are everywhere. We have young people looking outwards, while living in a messy place, dealing with war and revolution. In spite of it all, its a great city for people to get creative in.

And sitting in this bohemian cafe, with winter drawing to a close, it is hard not to share Shurovs optimism. More people should come.

Regent Holidays has a three-night break to Kiev from 520pp B&B, including transfers and flights from Gatwick with Ukraine International Airways

Visit link:
Kickin' Kiev: Why the Ukraine city is looking to Eurovision to jump start tourism - The Guardian

This article first appeared on the Atlantic Council site.

US President Donald Trump will have his first high-level meeting with a Russian representative on Wednesday, when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comes to the White House following a scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The stakes are high: about the only thing on which Moscow and Washington agree is that relations are at their lowest point since the height of the Cold War.

Subscribe to Newsweek from $1 per week

Lavrov will try to persuade Trump that the downturn in relations has nothing to do with Russia, that President Barack Obamas Russophobia and NATO expansion are to blame and that its time for another reset.

He will suggest that the two countries put aside contentious issues like Ukraine, abandon economic sanctions and join forces against ISIS.

That would be a huge mistake.

Russias aggression against Ukraineits illegal annexation of Crimea and undeclared war in eastern Ukrainecannot be swept under the rug. Russias actions represent an assault on the international rules-based order that has been the basis for security and stability in Europe since World War II.

Letting Russian aggression stand would mean going back to a Europe divided into spheres of influence, with the hegemony of big powers over small states. This would only invite further Russian aggression and increase the risk of conflict in the future.

Russia's military jets and navy ships take part in a military exercise called Kavkaz (the Caucasus) 2016 at the coast of the Black Sea in Crimea on September 9, 2016. Alexander Vershbow writes that when he meets with the Russian foreign minister later this week Donald Trump should tackle head-on the fundamental reason why relations have deteriorated in the first place: Russias aggression against Ukraine. VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty

To put our relations with Moscow on a more sustainable footing, the president should tackle head-on the fundamental reason why relations have deteriorated in the first place: Russias aggression against Ukraine.

The need is urgent. Despite signing the Minsk agreements more than two years ago, Moscow has failed to rein in its separatist proxies in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Nearly constant shelling claims the lives of dozens of Ukrainian soldiers each week, and conditions for civilians on both sides of the contact line are abominable.

The violence claimed its first American victim last month, when a separatist landmine exploded a vehicle of the civilian OSCE monitoring mission.

Diplomatic efforts led by Germany and France may have prevented the situation from getting worse, but they appear to be running out of gas. Chancellor Angela Merkel ran into a brick wall when she raised Ukraine with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 2.

It is increasingly clear that, by themselves, Germany and France lack the leverage to induce Russia to reverse course and withdraw its forces and proxies from the Donbas. Stronger, high-level US diplomatic engagement, working with Kiev, Berlin and Paris, could make the difference in ending the occupation and avoiding another intractable frozen conflict.

So as he prepares for his meeting with Lavrov and a possible first summit with Putin, Trump should make solving the conflict in Ukraine the litmus test and first priority of US engagement with Moscow.

He should appoint a senior diplomat as a special envoy who is empowered to negotiate directly with Kremlin officials calling the shots in eastern Ukraine. Any bargain with Russia should be contingent on Moscow and its proxies fully implementing the Minsk agreements and restoring Ukraines sovereignty over the Donbas, including control of its international borders.

This isnt an unreasonable demand. It is simply asking Putin to do what he promised to do but has never delivered, starting with a lasting ceasefire and withdrawal of foreign forces and heavy weapons.

With real security on the ground, the United States and its Western partners could ensure that President Petro Poroshenko delivers on his side of the bargain, including special status for the Donbas, amnesty and credible, internationally-supervised elections

To get there, the parties should consider deployment of an international peacekeeping force and civilian administration for a one or two-year transition phase.

An international enforcement mechanism, the missing link in the Minsk agreements, could ensure that both sides honor the ceasefire and pull back heavy weapons from the contact line, and that Russia removes its forces and equipment from Ukrainian soil.

The international authorities could take control of the international border, ensuring the end of illegal arms supplies to the separatists while creating the conditions needed for elections and the return of displaced persons, free of outside intimidation.

At the end of the transition period, Kiev would assume control of the border as the international presence draws down, and would finally exercise full Ukrainian sovereignty once again.

Crimea would still be a long-term problem, since we cannotand should notratify Russias illegal actions there. But the restoration of Ukraines sovereignty over the Donbas would allow us to turn the page, including easing or lifting most of the sanctions.

It would bring much better living conditions for the Russian people, and for the people of the Donbas, who have suffered the most. NATO and Russia could begin to restore practical cooperation, and get back to building a cooperative security order in Europe and beyond.

If Putin spurns the presidents initiative, however, the United States and its allies will have no choice but to increase the pressure on Russia even further by tightening sanctions and stepping up economic and military assistance to Ukraine, including lethal defensive weapons to enable the Ukrainians to protect their forces and deter new Russian offensives.

Ukraine is where the relationship disintegrated, and solving Ukraine is where the rebuilding should begin. High-level US diplomatic engagement and the introduction of an international enforcement mechanism could enable Trump and Putin to succeed where previous efforts failed, and remove the cloud that hangs over the US-Russia relationship.

Alexander Vershbow is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington. He previously served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Assistant Secretary of Defense and US Ambassador to NATO, Russia and South Korea.

See more here:
Trump to Lavrov: Get Out of Ukraine Or Face Stiffer Sanctions - Newsweek

A Ukrainian man carries a portrait of a relative and helps a veteran before a march for Victory Day celebrations in Kiev, Ukraine. Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA

Ukrainian police have arrested dozens of people during tense events to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, which are now an annual flashpoint as Ukraine tries to escape Russias grip and align with the West.

Officials said more than 30,000 police officers were deployed around Ukraine to monitor marches that attracted some 50,000 people. In the capital Kiev, 10,000 police were tasked with maintaining order ahead of the first semi-final of the Eurovision song contest on Tuesday evening.

In Russia, May 9th Victory Day celebrations have regained much of their Soviet-era pomp under President Vladimir Putin, who oversaw a parade of troops, tanks, missile systems and other armour on Red Square beside the Kremlin.

Following a 2014 revolution that ousted pro-Moscow leaders, however, Ukraine has sought to erase symbols of the Soviet years and Kremlin domination, angering some who still feel close to Russia or nostalgia for the communist era.

Scuffles broke out in several Ukrainian cities between people attending Victory Day events some of whom carried banned communist flags or even symbols of Moscow-backed separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine and nationalists who essentially regard the Soviet period as one of Russian occupation.

The second World War ended 72 years ago, and the Kremlin is still trying to command Ukraine like the four Ukrainian frontlines of the 1940s, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said at a commemoration in Kiev.

He also accused Russia of trying to co-opt the glory of the multinational Soviet forces to meet its revanchist, imperial and expansionist needs and insisted that Ukraine will no longer commemorate (victory) according to Moscows script.

Mr Poroshenko paid tribute to Ukraines veterans and those who in their declining years are fated to endure yet another war, yet another aggressor and yet another occupier a reference to a three years of fighting in the east that has killed some 10,000 people and displaced about 1.5 million.

We will certainly win, he added. It is our sacred debt before the dead of the second World War and those heroes of our time who gave their lives for a free Ukraine.

In the main separatist-held stronghold of Donetsk, a military parade featured tanks, artillery and other military vehicles, many of which are banned from the city under an ineffective peace agreement.

As in Soviet days, Red Square hosted a vast display of the Kremlins military might, with heavy armour and high-tech missile systems rolling by in the company of more than 10,000 troops.

Mr Putin said Russia could repel any potential aggression but favoured joint international efforts against terrorism, extremism, neo-Nazism and other threats.

We are open for such co-operation, he added, and Russia will always be on the side of forces for peace.

More:
Ukraine police arrest dozens at tense Victory Day events - Irish Times

KIEV Ukrainian Central Bank Governor Valeria Gontareva will leave her job on Thursday, leaving her deputy in charge, the central bank said, setting the stage for potentially protracted negotiations between president and parliament on her replacement.

Praised by the International Monetary Fund and some investors for her reforms of the banking system, Gontareva, a former investment banker and business partner of President Petro Poroshenko, tendered her resignation a month ago after a sustained campaign against her from protesters and lawmakers.

But Poroshenko has not yet accepted her resignation or nominated a candidate to replace her. Some names have been doing the rounds and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has backed Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, head of Raiffeisen's (RBIV.VI) Ukrainian unit, for the job.

Deputy Governor Yakiv Smoliy will take charge until a new governor is found, the central bank said in its statement.

"Valeria Gontareva is ceasing all official business at the central bank and going on compulsory leave until (parliament) ... approves her resignation," it said.

"... Yakiv Smoliy will act as chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine until the appointment of a new chairman."

Parliament is in recess from April until mid-May, meaning Poroshenko has not consulted lawmakers about Gontareva's replacement, Iryna Lutsenko, a lawmaker and the president's representative in parliament, told 112 TV on Tuesday.

"The president will determine his nominee after political consultations with parliament," she said.

Gontareva tendered her resignation on April 10 and, in a parting shot, warned that the political pressure on her position would increase after her departure.

She took charge of the central bank nearly three years ago, after Russia's annexation of Crimea and with Ukraine in the throes of a pro-Russian separatist uprising.

Her departure leaves Poroshenko with one fewer ally in power at a time when lenders are already questioning Ukraine's ability to follow through on promised reforms.

It nearly completes an exodus of reformers who were appointed after Poroshenko's pro-Western administration took charge following the Maidan street protests in 2013-2014.

The IMF, which is supporting Ukraine with a $17.5 billion bailout program that began in 2015, has urged Kiev to appoint a governor with the kind of independence that will allow him or her to build on Gontareva's reforms.

These include shutting down half Ukraine's lenders and switching to a flexible exchange rate. She also nationalized PrivatBank, an oligarch-owned lender of systemic importance, which she said lent all its corporate loans to parties related to its owners.

(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors digested President Donald Trump's abrupt dismissal of his FBI chief as well as corporate earnings from Walt Disney and Nvidia.

WASHINGTON Finance officials from the Group of Seven industrial economies this week will discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's tax and regulatory reforms, efforts to combat terrorist financing and a brightening economic picture, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON The U.S. government had a $182 billion budget surplus in April, confounding market expectations for a deficit, according to Treasury Department data released on Wednesday.

See the article here:
Ukraine central bank post in political limbo as Gontareva leaves - Reuters