09/21/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - President Poroshenko claimed that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO

Poroshenko claimed that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO. Photo by BBC

09.21.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• President Poroshenko claimed that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO.
• Klitschko was nominated as a candidate for the Mayor of Kyiv from the Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc again.
• Сeasefire in the Donbass continues.
• Microsoft’s Skype communicator is working with serious disruptions.

Key Events in Ukraine

• NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg arrived to Ukraine with official mission. He attended the joint exercise at the Yavoriv training ground near Lviv. During the press conference, Stoltenberg said that Russia's actions challenged Europe and are undermining the world order. Therefore, the Alliance strongly and actively supports Ukraine.
  President Poroshenko said that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO right now, same as the Alliance is not ready to accept Ukraine, even though the doors of the organization are open since 2008. All the reforms are aimed to not only meet the EU standards, but also the ones of NATO. Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will be able to apply for entry into the Alliance after the reforms in the country will be completed.
• The Cabinet dismissed the Head of Ukravtodor (State Road Construction Service) and the CEO of the "Antonov" state aviation group .
• The fluctuations in the hryvnia's official exchange rate aren’t significant: 21,86 ₴ / $ (+0,22 USD), 24,59 ₴ / € (-0,12 UAH), 3,30 ₴ / 10 ₽.

Kyiv

• Poroshenko Blok nominated current Head of the Kyiv Klitschko as a candidate for Mayor. Current administration officials and the heads of the commissions of capital’s council are also going to elections in the joint list of the party.
• Fitch Ratings lowered long-term ratings of Kyiv and Kharkiv in foreign currency to pre-default level "C".

Ukraine at War

• The sides to the conflict comply with the ceasefire in the Donbass . During the day, according to the official reports, one soldier was wounded due to the explosion of the trip wire.
• Head of the Donetsk regional military-civilian administration Zhebrivskyi said that Russia is not going to leave Ukraine alone. In the Donbass, regular Russian troops are gradually replacing the local militants. In his opinion that’s why the ceasefire continues in the region.
• The General Staff published the data on official losses of the armed forces. During the Anti-Terrorist Operation and the Crimean events army lost 1915 soldiers, 7053 soldiers were injured, 271 gone missing, 76 are in captivity.
• According to the management of the General Staff, the transition to the contract army within the conditions of military aggression is inappropriate, since the number of contractors can be 50-60% of the personnel of the Armed Forces.
• Military Prosecutor Matios announced about the arrest of the 28th mechanized brigade battalion commander with a bribe for allowing trucks to the occupied territory.
• Leader of the Luhansk “republic” militants Plotnitskiy announced that "local elections" are to be held on November 1.
• The Crimean Tatars and activists continue to block highways leading to the Crimea. During the day no trucks were allowed to the  peninsula.

Ukraine and the World

• Vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Italian judge Raimondi was elected as its President . He will replace the judge from Switzerland Spielmann, whose term of office expires on 31 October.
• In Warsaw opened the annual meeting of the OSCE to implement the obligations of the participant states in respect of human rights observation, rule of law and democratization. The aggression of Russia in Ukraine is in the focus of the forum . The participants called on Russia to end its occupation of the territory of Ukraine and to release all the citizens, illegally detained in the Russian Federation .
• Russian military aircrafts appeared in Syria. According to media reports, 1.700 Russian servicemen are present at the Navy base in the port of Tartus . The White House says that Russia sent troops to Syria because it lost its influence in the region.
• Leader of "Syriza" party Tsipras became Greek Prime Minister again, which according to experts, could significantly complicate the solution of the Greek financial crisis for the EC.