2014/11/24 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The NATO Parliamentary Assembly reaffirmed that Ukraine can become a member of the Alliance

11/24/2014 Daily Highlights from "Digests and Analytics - Ukraine" news agency

Topics of the Day

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly reaffirmed that Ukraine can become a member of the Alliance. Lithuania is ready to supply weapons to Ukraine. Russian terrorist threat is growing.

In Ukraine

• During the meeting with Lithuanian President Grybauskaite President Poroshenko said that the decision to join NATO should be adopted in a referendum after many years of work to achieve the standards of the Alliance.
• Lithuania is ready to supply weapons to Ukraine and train soldiers.
• Ukraine is in the process of the second stage of the Lustration - "Clean Government Act".
• National Bank required commercial banks to comply with the decision of August 6th to terminate the service of all accounts, including credit  and debit cards, on the territory controlled by rebels in the Donbass.
• The official hryvnia exchange rate set at 15.06 USD / $ (-4 cop.), 18.71 USD / € (-21 cop.), UAH 3.29 / 10 € (6 cop.). Analysts predict the behavior of an unstable market conditions, slurred exchange rate policy of the National Bank and the lack of positive signals from the IMF. Cash market remains in the shadows.
• NBU has sold 14 tons of gold, therefore increasing the share of dollar in foreign exchange reserves.
• Russia cut off supplies of steam coal in Ukraine. In the warehouses of state-owned mines in the occupied territory of Donbass is more than 2 million tons of coal, which militants are trafficked to Russia.
• WizzAir company does not rule out closing its Ukrainian unit in response to the opaque

rules imposed by Ministry of Transportation.

War in Ukraine

• Avdeevka, Donetsk and Debaltseve are again under severe shelling. Ukraninan military positions were shelled and attacked 36 times.
• Terrorist groups and Russian army units are trying to advance and expand the territory captured by them earlier.
• Authorities of Donetsk "republic" in Donetsk, mobilize the remaining students in to the construction crews to rebuild destroyed infrastructure.
• Due to the enforced policy by the occupation authorities to forcibly conscript public into the Russian army, at the request of Dzhemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatars, a new wave of migration may begin from the Crimean peninsula to mainland Ukraine.
• Central Bank of the Russian Federation asked the inhabitants of Crimea to repay loans of Ukrainian banks through special accounts of the Russian Agency for Deposit Insurance, or through the Russian banks.

International

• The head of the US Mission OSCE Bayer presented to the organization in Vienna evidence of systematic violations of Minsk Agreements by Russia. He also confirmed that US is ready to expand sanctions against Russia.
• The NATO Parliamentary Assembly at its annual session in Hague adopted a resolution in support of the sovereignty and democracy in Ukraine. The resolution stated that the intervention of Russia is the main cause of continued conflict in the Donbass. Sanctions should continue to increase until Russian leadership stops violating international law. Assembly also condemned the actions of the Russian Federation on the establishment of joint armed forces with unrecognized Abkhazian republic and confirmed that supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within the borders recognized by the international community.
• NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg confirmed that the Alliance is open to be joined by new members if they meet the criteria.
• Russia has developed a new military doctrine that defines the goals and actions of the russian armed forces for the next 10 years. Revision of previous doctrine, adopted in 2010, is associated with an abrupt change in the geopolitical situation.
• Talks about the lifting of sanctions against Iran in exchange for giving up its nuclear program ended without result and will be extended until July 2015. Iran does not allow international inspectors to some sites and continues to produce enriched uranium.
• Russia wants to stock up own oil reserves when world oil market at it’s lowest.

Trends

• According to experts, the threat of terrorist acts originating from Russia will increase, objects can serve as infrastructure facilities and residential buildings in major Ukrainian cities.
• The “Clean Government Act" is flawed as it allows replacement of honest civil servants with individuals that are clearly involved in the corruption scandals but due to technicality avoid prosecution under the Act.