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Ukraine intends to increase its trade volume with Turkey, the country's deputy economy minister said Friday.

Noting that the countries already had a trading volume of $5 billion, Taras Kachka, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy, told Anadolu Agency that the aim is to create a balanced growth environment for both countries.

"We're so close to completing a free trade agreement. We're almost in the position to see light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Kachka noted that the two countries still had reservations in some areas such as agriculture and steel products, investments, service sector, but stressed that talks were ongoing.

He stated that Turkey is among Ukraine's top five trading partners, pointing out that the development of commercial and economic dynamics strengthened ties as well.

Kachka predicted that the balance in trade volume could tip in favor of Turkey for the first time.

"The reason behind this is that Turkey is one of the most important exporters of diesel fuel to Ukraine, which is a source of diversification for us, because we're dependent on Russia and Belarus on diesel fuel."

Cooperation between the countries in the high-tech and defense sectors is also promising and this is a sign of long-term systematic cooperation, he added.

Kachka also underlined that Ukraine is interested in Turkey's experience in public health and transportation.

* Writing by Yunus Girgin in Ankara

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Official: Ukraine wants to expand trade with Turkey - Anadolu Agency

Ukraine's move to impose economic restrictions on Belarus Lukashenko branded "shameful copycatting the European Union and the U.S."

REUTERS

Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has threatened Ukraine with sanctions in response to measures recently taken by the Ukrainian side.

Lukashenko has suggested in his interview with the national and foreign media that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against Belarus under pressure from the West, BELTA reports.

"All this wagging by your president, Zelensky, all his twists and turns are shameful copycatting of the European Union and the U.S.," Lukashenko said. Had the Western powers not imposed sanctions on Bealrus, Zelensky "wouldn't have gone for it either," Lukashenko suggested.

Read alsoDemocracy March in Belarus: Rights watchdogs report mass arrests (Photo)"This is humiliation of the Ukrainian people, to say the least," said Lukashenko.

He noted that Belarus could close the border for Ukrainian goods, including for raw materials.

"You watch out because we could shut the border for goods coming from the Ukrainian territory. And then you wont be able to supply products to our market, you won't even be able to process Ukrainian products in Belarus before supplying them to other markets, primarily the Eurasian one," Lukashenko said.

He also criticized the Ukrainian media for their coverage of Belarus developments.

Read alsoEU slaps personal sanctions on Lukashenko, entourage"You are covering these events in Belarus the way even the West and the U.S. aren't covering them. Why do you need all this? We have always cared about you, all these Maidans, and so on ... And you are starting to break and slam us. How come? Peopls like Lukashenko and Zelensky come and go, but nations remain. Why spoil relations?" Lukashenko said.

Author: UNIAN

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Lukashenko warns Ukraine of sanctions, criticizes Zelensky for playing along with West - UNIAN

Survivors of domestic violence in eastern Ukraine are not able to seek protection against violence against them due to the governments ineffective response, Amnesty International said today in a report on the hidden but escalating problem of domestic and sexual violence against women in the region.

Based on six field missions conducted by Amnesty International, Not a private matter highlights multiple flaws in a system aimed at protecting survivors, particularly women, of domestic and sexual violence. The situation is worsened by devastating social and economic crises, access to weaponry, and trauma created by the ongoing armed conflict between the government of Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists.

It is desperate that women, whose lives are already severely affected by trauma and destruction caused by the conflict, find themselves without recourse to assistance and failed by the authorities who have a responsibility to protect them from domestic and sexual violence, said Oksana Pokalchuk, Director of Amnesty International Ukraine.

Women living in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine do not feel safe neither in public nor at home.

Women living in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine do not feel safe neither in public nor at home

Amnesty International accessed the government-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions between January and November 2019. The organisation has had no access to the separatist-controlled areas, which fall beyond the scope of the report.

Official statistics on domestic violence, however unreliable and incomplete, show a spike of registered cases in the last three years. In 2018, there was a 76% increase in reported cases in Donetsk region and a 158% increase in Luhansk region, compared to the average of the previous three years.

Government initiatives fail to effectively address domestic violence

Over the last three years, Ukraine has adopted new legislation and institutional frameworks relating to gender-based violence, generally in line with international human rights law. These include the landmark 2018 Law on Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence, the introduction of emergency protection orders and shelters, and special police units trained to address situations of domestic violence.

Yet the new laws and initiatives are often poorly implemented, while the country remains no closer to ratifying the Council of Europes Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention).

Police are still reluctant to register complaints of survivors of domestic violence and widespread impunity deters many victims from speaking out.

Police are still reluctant to register complaints of survivors of domestic violence and widespread impunity deters many victims from speaking out

In 10 out of the 27 cases of domestic violence documented in the report, women didnt report the violence they had suffered to police because they believed the authorities would not respond adequately, if at all.

In one case, a pregnant woman was beaten by her husband, a serving soldier at the time, but did not file an official complaint. She decided it was not worth it after being pressured by the military command to withdraw a previous complaint (when her husband broke her nose), so as not to embarrass her husband.

Survivors left unprotected and at risk

Ukraines new legislation gives police officers the authority to issue so-called emergency protection orders, which prohibit alleged perpetrators from entering and staying on the premises a survivor may reside in, and from contacting the survivor for 10 days. These powers in the cases Amnesty documented are rarely enacted and if they are, are not effectively enforced.

Despite positive developments in national legislation, gaps in protection remain. In Ukraine, domestic violence falls both under administrative and criminal legislation. Currently, unless a perpetrator has accrued two administrative penalties for domestic violence, criminal prosecutions cannot be initiated.

In addition, members of the military and police are exempt from administrative proceedings in courts of general jurisdiction, which effectively serves to protect them from criminal prosecution for domestic violence.

Members of the military and police are exempt from administrative proceedings in courts of general jurisdiction, which effectively serves to protect them from criminal prosecution for domestic violence

Oksana Mamchenko suffered physical, psychological and economic violence from her ex-husband, the father of her 12 children, for 20 years. After she left home with the children, the court issued temporary protection orders three times, barring the ex-husband from being in the same house with Oksana and their children or being in close proximity to them.

Between January 2019 and January 2020, Oksana obtained three restraining orders and one emergency protection order against her ex-husband and lodged multiple complaints with the police. Her ex-husband ignored all orders, and authorities failed to adequately enforce them. In May 2020, he was given a one-year suspended sentence for failure to comply with restraining order but was not punished for domestic violence.

Sexual violence

Amnesty Internationals research indicates that women in eastern Ukraine continue to experience sexual violence from military personnel in various forms, especially in areas along the contact line.

Amnesty International has documented eight cases of sexual violence against civilian women and girls perpetrated by members of the military, including two instances of rape, one attempted rape, and five cases of sexual harassment, committed by members of the military throughout 2017-2018 in residential areas.

The Ukrainian authorities must carry out swift and comprehensive legal reforms that protect survivors of gender-based and domestic violence. These reforms can only be successful if they stem from genuine consultations with survivors and womens organizations, said Oksana Pokalchuk.

The Ukrainian authorities must carry out swift and comprehensive legal reforms that protect survivors of gender-based and domestic violence

The Ukrainian government has demonstrated in recent years a willingness to address the issue of violence against women. Nows the time to step up their efforts. Ukraine should ratify the Istanbul Convention as this will provide the authorities with a clear roadmap for reform, including further improvement of the legislation, educational programmes for officials and the general public, a government reporting mechanism, and other important changes.

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Ukraine: Epidemic of violence against women in conflict-torn east - Amnesty International

The total death toll is almost 10,000 people.

The total number of COVID-19 cases has reached 535,857 / Photo from UNIAN, by Serhiy Chuzavkov

As many as 10,861 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ukraine in the past day as of the morning of November 15.

Thus, the total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed since the start of the epidemic in the country has reached 535,857, according to the interactive map compiled by the National Security and Defense Council.

Read alsoDaily COVID-19 cases hit new high on Nov 14 as 12,500 tests return positive

The total death toll is 9 603 people, including 95 recorded in the past day.

Meanwhile, 241,444 patients (including 2,633 in the past 24 hours) have already recovered. There are 615,483 suspected cases as of today.

Most cases of coronavirus were recorded in the city of Kyiv, as well as in Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi regions.

Author: UNIAN

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Over 10000 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Ukraine as of Nov 15 - UNIAN

With a coming change of administration in the White House, Kiev is mounting a renewed and dangerously provocative push to retake the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics.

Within days of the U.S. presidential election being called for Joe Biden, Ukraines armed forces resumed combat operations in over a dozen hot zones across the breakaway region of eastern Donbass. Separatist positions came under fire by Ukrainian mortars, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), grenade launchers, and small arms; at least two Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) soldiers were killed, including one DNR commander. The DNRs former Defense Minister Igor Strelkov predicted late last week that Ukrainian offensives will increase in scale and frequency following Joe Bidens victory: It [the Ukrainian offensives] never stopped, though the intensity varied. But a decisive Ukrainian offensive is possible, unfortunately. It was possible all of these six years. Now its even more possible, especially after Joe Bidens victory, said Strelkov in an interview with Russian media. Former DNR Chairman Andrei Purgin added that, whereas the Trump administration pursued a policy of slow strangulation against the Donbass separatist republics, Bidens approach will be more aggressive and straightforward. The renewed Ukrainian offensives are the latest flare-up in what has been an uneasy ceasefire negotiated in late July.

Biden has consistently espoused a policy of rollback against Russia, including further military aid to Ukraine. But previous military aid packages to Ukraine were intended to be used for purely defensive purposes; that is, helping Ukraines army to stave off the threat of westward Russian encroachment beyond the territories seized by the separatists in 2014. Neither Biden nor any U.S. government official has explicitly supported Ukrainian attempts at retaking their lost provinces by military force, which would be a violation of the Minsk Protocol agreement signed by Kiev, Moscow, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the two breakaway republics in 2014. Washington has formally supported the Minsk Protocola peace agreement that outlines a path for the reintegration of the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics into Ukraineunder both the Obama and Trump administrations, and there is no indication that this policy will change under a Biden White House.

But there is a growing appetite in Kiev to renegotiate some of the Minsk Protocols provisions, with an increasing number of Ukrainian commentators and politicians charging that the agreement is impossible to implement in its current form. The Minsk Protocol requires both Ukraine and Russia to withdraw their forces from the conflicts borders so that an OSCE-observed ceasefire can be implemented, after which both Luhansk and Donetsk will hold local elections. The two republics will then return to Ukraine as autonomous zones, with their special status protected by an amended Ukrainian constitution. In addition, all separatists must be granted amnesty by Kiev.

Ukraines first president, Leonid Kravchuk, stated earlier this week that, while Kiev supports the spirit of the Minsk accords, the breakaway regions must come under Ukrainian control prior to local elections being held. We must take the territory under control and make ourselves accountable to the international community about conducting the elections, so that everything can be done lawfully. Kravchuk also reiterated a growing consensus in Kiev that there cannot be a blanket amnesty law and argued instead for a selective amnesty that does not cover those accused of violent crimes. Ukraines current President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed Kravchuks sentiments in a recent interview, arguing that there cannot be free and fair elections in Donetsk and Luhansk until Ukraine fully controls its borders with Russia, as well as expressing dissatisfaction with the wording of some of the agreements provisions. Still others in Kiev have advocated for more radical revisions to the Minsk Protocol; Ukrainian politician Yevhen Marchuk insisted that the separatist provinces must spend at least 4-5 peaceful years under Ukrainian control before local elections can be held.

Despite Kievs growing list of issues with the Minsk format, Ukraine is unlikely to withdraw from the Minsk format any time soon. Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Reznikov stated late last month that the protocols are 100 percent impossible to implement as currently written, but added that Ukraine cannot unilaterally withdraw from them without grave international consequences. Instead, Reznikov suggested that the Minsk format can be revised: there is no problem with the leaders of the Normandy Format [Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and France] reviewing Minsk and honestly saying: here is what works, here is what can works, here is what will never work.

The Kremlin, for its part, has not budged from its insistence that the Minsk Protocols must be implemented in their entirety. There is also little appetite in Berlin, and the broader EU security architecture, to meaningfully revise the Minsk protocol, with a recent joint statement by Germany, France, and Poland noting that the Minsk Agreements remain the sole basis for the resolution of the conflict in the East of Ukraine. They underline the need to fully implement the measures agreed by the parties on the occasion of the Normandy Summit in Paris in December 2019.

It remains to be seen how Washington (which is not a member of the Normandy Group or a party to the Minsk Format) under a Biden administration will address itself to concerns over the viability of the Minsk agreements, and to the ongoing Donbass conflict more broadly.

Mark Episkopos is the new national security reporter for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.

Excerpt from:
Ukraines Power Play on Minsk - The National Interest