What Kyiv and its partners were weighing on 21 March 2018
A look back at the days around 21 March 2018, when a new military command, a central bank handover and sanctions pressure shaped the agenda.
What did the political landscape look like on 21 March 2018? In Kyiv, the days just before that date had brought changes to the country's military command, its central bank and its support for service members.
On 16 March 2018, President Petro Poroshenko appointed Serhiy Nayev commander of the Joint Forces Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The new body was created to replace the Anti-Terrorist Operation Staff.
A day earlier, on 15 March 2018, the president signed amendments to the law on the social and legal protection of military personnel and their families. The changes were aimed at removing what was described as social injustice in the right of service members to receive cash compensation for renting housing.
The same day, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Valeriya Hontareva as Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine and appointed Yakiv Smolii in her place.
Pressure on Moscow from Washington
Also on 15 March 2018, the Trump administration imposed financial sanctions on 19 Russian nationals under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. Twelve of them were among those indicted in the Special Counsel investigation. The act, which imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia, had been passed by the Senate on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it into law on 2 August 2017, although he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
A dispute inside the European Union
On 21 March 2018 itself, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz accused the European Union of double standards and of suffering a deficit of democracy. Poland and the European Commission were engaged in disputes over migrant quotas and a proposed reform of Poland's judiciary.
Taken together, the reports from those days show a country reorganising its military leadership and financial oversight, while the wider region dealt with sanctions and disagreements within the EU.
