You're reading: Groysman reassures Merkel, Germans that martial law will not harm business

BERLIN — Ukraine’s recent imposition of martial law in the country’s border oblasts will not harm business, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said during a joint appearance with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the third annual German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin. “Martial law will not affect German business or German citizens,” Groysman said, stressing that the move was intended only to increase the country’s military security.

The prime minister said that his country’s main task now is “to become a strong democracy and a strong economy.” He also stressed that Ukraine is committed to reform and fighting corruption — including creating an anti-corruption court.

“We understand that the most important thing is to return faith in our court system,” Groysman said.

Groysman’s comments were aimed at reassuring German investors after an eruption of tensions in the Black and Azov seas.

On Nov. 25, the Russian coast guard attacked and captured three Ukrainian boats and 23 sailors as they attempted to cross the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea into the Azov Sea. The attack was Russia’s most aggressive action after months of harassing both Ukrainian and commercial ships headed to and from Ukrainian ports.

In response, President Petro Poroshenko called for imposing martial law in Ukraine for two months. However, the Verkhovna Rada would only vote for a more limited version of his plan: 30 days of martial law in 10 border regions of the country.

Speaking after Groysman, Merkel also addressed the escalating tensions in the Azov Sea. Since Russia opened the Kerch Bridge in April, conditions for navigation in the Azov Sea had deteriorated, she said.

Merkel also called for the 23 Ukrainian sailors, who are currently being tried in occupied Crimea, to freed without having to make an admission guilt in court. She stressed the importance of the Azov Sea for Ukraine.

“A city like Mariupol simple cannot live without a port,” she said of the industrial center of 500,000 people located 800 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.

Merkel said that she would discuss the situation in the Azov Sea with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 in Buenos Aires on Nov. 30.

“But I also request that the Ukrainian side act rationally here,” Merkel said. “No military option is possible.”

In the wake of the Nov. 25 attack, Merkel spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and called for “de-escalation and dialogue.”

In extended comments about the broader security situation in Ukraine, the German chancellor admitted that, while the Minsk Agreements had helped prevent a constant escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine’s occupied Donbas, they also failed to give Ukraine access to its eastern borders.

Merkel also pushed back against European politicians who call for a return to business as usual with Russia. Merkel said she is for working with Russia. “But I’m not for these cases…when a belt of countries near Russia cannot develop the way they want.”