Another truce in the Ukraine

US Congress pushes sanctions against Ukraine

Lawmakers in both chambers of US Congress are putting pressure on President Barack Obama to immediately impose sanctions against the Ukrainian government.

Press TV,

20 February, 2014

The Obama administration has already imposed visa bans on 20 unnamed top Ukrainian officials. However, US lawmakers are pushing for more sanctions as they are considering congressional action.

“I urge the Administration to take immediate action and impose targeted sanctions, including visa restrictions,” Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted on Wednesday.

According to Engel, while the White House “has the necessary authorities to take appropriate actions,” Congress “should also consider additional Congressional action.”

Meanwhile in the upper chamber of US Congress, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and European Affairs subpanel Chairman Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), are working on their own sanctions bill.

“We have begun working together on legislation that would impose targeted sanctions on government officials,” Murphy and McCain said in a statement on Wednesday.

The two senators joined protesters in Ukraine in December and urged country’s President Viktor Yanukovych to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union and turn away from Russia.

US lawmakers’ push for sanctions against Ukraine comes as the Ukrainian President announced a truce and the start of direct talks with opposition leaders on Wednesday.

The announcement came one day after violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Kiev left at least 26 people, including 10 police officers, dead.

Ukraine president announces truce with protesters

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has announced truce and the start of direct talks with the opposition in a bid to end months of turmoil in the country.

Press TV,

20 February, 2014

The president made the announcement on Wednesday after holding private talks with opposition leaders, including boxer and parliamentarian, Vitali Klitschko.

"Based on the results of the meeting, the sides announced a truce and the start of a negotiations process aimed at ending the bloodshed (and) stabilizing the situation in the country for the benefit of civil peace," said a statement posted on the president's website.

The announcement, which gave no details of how a truce would be implemented, followed a flare-up of violence that left 26 people dead in the capital, Kiev, on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Yanukovych fired the head of the armed forces, Col. Gen. Volodymyr Zamana, after the state security service announced it was launching a nationwide "anti-terrorist" campaign to deal with the ongoing violence in the country.

Oleksandr Yakymenko, Ukraine’s security service chief, announced the nationwide anti-terrorist operation after "extremist groups" seized government buildings and arms depots.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated the possibility of applying sanctions against Ukraine.

The European Union has also said the bloc is considering imposing sanctions on the country, with France and Germany demanding targeted measures against the Ukrainian leadership.

Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests since Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU on November 29 last year in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Kiev and Moscow reached a strategic economic and trade deal last December, which provides Ukraine with significant discounts on imported Russian gas and billions of dollars in credit.

'Ukrainian protests degenerated from hooliganism to terrorism since January'

There've been accusations of the use of live ammunition by both sides in the conflict.

Protesters are well armed but it's unclear just where they've sourced their firearms from. They were also using grenades, fireworks and molotov cocktails against law enforcers. Others threw rocks, wielded baseball bats and metal rods. Attempts were also made to ram trucks through police cordons. 

Let's now get some analysis from Srdja Trifkovich, foreign-affairs editor for the Chronicles magazine