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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s remarks in Kyiv on July 9.
U.S. sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the Kremlin reverses the actions that triggered them, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a visit to Ukraine on July 9.
Tillerson’s visited followed the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, where the U.S. secretary of state took part in the first meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 7.
Tillerson was scheduled to fly on to Turkey later on July 9.
In comments made after his meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv, Tillerson blamed the Kremlin for the failed cease-fire in the Donbas war, which has killed 10,000 people and displaced 1.5 million more while causing $50 billion in economic losses. The Kremlin launched its war in February 2014, with the illegal seizure of the Crimean peninsula.
“We are disappointed by the lack of progress on Minsk agreements,” Tillerson said at the Presidential Administration. “I’ve been clear in my discussion with Russian leadership that it is necessary for Russia to take steps to de-escalate the situation in the east of Ukraine and observe the cease-fire.” As for U.S. goals in Ukraine, Tillerson said restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and ensuring security for all Ukrainian citizens were major priorities.
He also noted that Trump made it clear to Putin that Russia’s restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity is a precondition for an improvement in U.S.-Russia relations. However, Trump on July 9 tweeted: “Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!” before tweeting: “Sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved.”
Tillerson was accompanied to Ukraine by Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, who has been appointed as a U.S. special envoy to negotiate to help implement the Minsk agreement to end the war in eastern Ukraine. The war has claimed lives of more than 10,000 people since Russia ignited it in early 2014. Volker is expected to stay in Ukraine for the next few days.
Poroshenko welcomed Volker’s appointment, calling it an “important and timely move in the interests of ending Russian aggression and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including (the return of) Crimea.”
“So far, we haven’t noticed any difference in Russia’s behavior,” Poroshenko said. “Kyiv never started this war. It was started in Moscow. Ukraine does not want to pay such a high price, in numbers of killed soldiers and civilians.”
During the last 24 hours, Russian-backed forces attacked Ukrainian army positions at least 22 times in Donetsk Oblast, in the villages of Hnutove and Krasnohorivka, leaving four Ukrainian soldiers wounded.
On the reform front, Tillerson said he was encouraged by the progress made by Ukraine, but stressed that key reforms – especially in the judiciary – need to take place so that “Ukraine will become a very attractive place for investors and business.”
A group of Ukrainian leaders met with Tillerson before his talks with Poroshenko. They included: Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev, member of parliament Mustafa Nayyem, Horizon Capital CEO Lenna Koszarny and Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv.
Afterwards, Kaleniuk wrote that she “recommended to Tillerson to advise Poroshenko to give up his political control over law enforcement and judiciary and let them be independent.” She also “illustrated the success of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, particularly with the example of recent successful undercover operation conducted jointly with FBI regarding member of parliament Boryslav Rozenblat, who was covering up illegal amber extraction. And, of course, I have stated the importance of the leverage of the U.S. and other foreign partners of Ukraine in the establishment of NABU and its proper functioning. I asked Secretary Tillerson for U.S. support in the quick establishment of the anti-corruption court in Ukraine with a special mechanism of selection of anti-corruption judges. Moreover, I have emphasized the need to protect NABU from constant attacks and attempts to undermine it.”
Nayyem, who is a member of Poroshenko’s dominant faction in parliament with 135 out of 423 members, said Tillerson impressed him with “pragmatism and attention to details.” He asked the secretary of state “not to play in diplomacy” with Poroshenko “because it would be understood as a weakness.” He said all participants “were very straightforward.”
