Kyiv's week of security and sanctions news before 10 April 2018
A look back at what Ukraine's leadership and its partners had announced in the days leading up to 10 April 2018.
What was shaping Ukraine's political agenda on 10 April 2018? The days just before that date brought an announced change in the military operation in Donbass, new US sanctions on Russian targets and a small step in aviation ties with Turkey.
A new format in Donbass
On 5 April 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a press conference in Vinnytsia. He announced that the anti-terror operation in Donbass would end in May and be replaced with a military force.
The operation had been declared by the Ukrainian government after the 2014 pro-Russian unrest escalated with the arrival of armed militias, and it marked the beginning of the war in Donbas. The term "ATO zone" was used by the media, the public, the government of Ukraine, the OSCE and other foreign institutions for the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the control of Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists. The Minsk II protocols of 2015 referred to the area as certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Washington widens sanctions
On 6 April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on twelve Russian-owned companies, a Russian arms exporter and a bank. Washington cited several reasons, among them Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and military engagements in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria.
The measures were taken under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia by preventing US companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017, 98–2, after the House approved it 419–3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, though he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
Aviation ties with Turkey
On 4 April 2018, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement improving aviation co-operation.
The picture on 10 April 2018
Taken together, the announcements of 4, 5 and 6 April 2018 set out the context in which Kyiv entered the following week: a declared end to the anti-terror operation due in May, a US sanctions package that named Ukraine among its reasons, and a fresh bilateral agreement with Turkey.
