Sanctions

Poroshenko is in Germany begging for assistance from Germany

West Ready But Unwilling to Impose New Sanctions on Russia – Merkel

German Chancellor Merkel said the EU didn't want to impose new sanctions against Russia.

Sputnik News,

16 March, 2015

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Western countries are ready but unwilling to impose new sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.

“Of course, we are ready for new sanctions if absolutely necessary, but they are not a goal in itself. We don’t want them,” she told reporters after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin.

Austria as well does not support the immediate extension of economic sanctions against Russia, the country's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Monday.

The European Union has implemented several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia following Crimea's reunification with Russia last March.

The bloc, alongside the United States and several other Western nations, has also accused Moscow of meddling in Ukraine's affairs and fueling the internal crisis in the country. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations and retaliated with an embargo on food products from the European Union.

Angela Merkel said Monday Berlin is ready to take part in programs of economic assistance to crisis-hit Ukraine.

"We can see now the IMF program for Ukraine being implemented, and Germany is ready to assist," she said.

Poroshenko is currently on an official visit to Germany.

Crimea-Related Sanctions to Remain Until It Belongs to Ukraine - State Dep't

The US Department of State said that the sanctions against Crimea to remain in force until the peninsula returned to Ukraine.

Sputnik News,

16 March, 2015

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US sanctions imposed against Russia because of Crimea’s reunification with Russia will continue until the peninsula returns to Ukraine, the US Department of State said in a release on Monday.

“This week, as Russia attempts to validate its cynical and calculated ‘liberation’ of Crimea, we reaffirm that sanctions related to Crimea will remain in place, as long as the occupation continues,” the statement read.

March 16 marks one year since the Crimea seceded from Ukraine and became a part of Russia after more than 96 percent of local voters supported the move in a referendum.

One day, when ruling leaders in the EU and the United States will change, the West would eventually recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia, political analyst Jon Hellevig told Sputnik.

The West refused to recognize Crimea's reunification with Russia, claiming it violated Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and introduced several waves of sanctions targeting Russia's economy and certain individuals.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that sanctions are counter-productive and hurt not only the target country but those imposing the sanctions as well.

On Monday, Washington reiterated its condemnation of the Crimean referendum, claiming it was “not voluntary, transparent, or democratic.”

“We do not, nor will we, recognize Russia’s attempted annexation and call on President Putin to end his country’s occupation of Crimea,” the State Department stated.

The State Department also accused Russia of human rights violations in Crimea over the last year, including “mounting repression of minority communities and faiths, in particular Crimean Tatars, and systematic denial of fundamental freedoms."

“Local residents have been detained, interrogated, and disappeared and NGOs and independent media have been driven out of the peninsula,” the release added

Crimea's secession from Ukraine took place after a coup installed a new, fiercely nationalist government in Kiev in February, 2014, which in turn alienated Crimea's majority Russian-speaking population of some 2.4 million. Crimea refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government in Kiev, voting instead to cut ties with Ukraine and rejoin Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a reunification treaty with the Crimean leaders on March 18. The signing launched an integration process that took almost a year, with Crimean voters going to the polls for the first time in September to elect their parliaments and local authorities.

Although the West refuses to recognize the results of the referendum calling Crimea's secession an "annexation," Putin has stressed that it was held in full compliance with democratic procedures and the rules of international law.