Pro-Russian separatists keep shelling the Ukrainian positions in Donbas.
On Monday Sep. 18 in Luhansk area, militants used artillery for the first time since the beginning of the so-called school truce. They opened fire near the village of Novotoshkivske and were shelling from mortars near the Krymske and Prychepylivka. In the village of Charmalyk in Mariupol direction separatists intensified sniper’s fire. Traditionally violence persisted in the Donetsk direction. The strategically important town of Avdiivka and the Butivka coal mine were many attacked by the militants. This week the OSCE mission in Ukraine disclosed they want to increase the total number of observers to 800 people by the end of its mandate in March next year. At the same time, Hug said that the signatories of the Minsk agreements should ensure the security of international observers. That was disclosed by SMM's Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug. He also said that the signatories of the Minsk agreements should ensure the security of international observers. Later Martin Sajdik - Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine voiced the number of civil victims in the Donbas war zone saying that their number keeps growing due to the constant breaches of the ceasefire.
As of Sep. 17 the number of civilian casualties has already reached 38e people, among them 68 killed and 315 wounded. The data was collected by the OSCE mission and such civilian losses are unacceptable. The Trilateral Contact group will further apply all possible efforts in order to establish a continuing ceasefire in Donbas, - said Martin Sajdik.
On Wednesday, a meeting of the security subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on conflict settlement in eastern Ukraine took place in Minsk. As a result of the meeting, the Ukrainian party put forward a demand for a thorough investigation of all cases of a ceasefire break by Russian-backed militants in the Donbas and appropriate punishment for those responsible for the breach. The last meeting of the Trilateral Group, comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, took place on the 13th of September. Then, the parties failed to reach an agreement on a “large-scale exchange” of prisoners. The negotiations on the “all to all” exchange of captives have been lasting since last year. According to the Ukrainian party, 144 Ukrainian citizens are in a captivity of Russian-backed militants now. Separatists demand to exchange them for 600 people. Following the preliminary talks, the exchange can take place as follows: 87 Ukrainian citizens whose location in the occupied territories is known to 309 of those who militants want to get back.
“It is very important that we have a common vision of a new quality of cooperation on security issues,” President Petro Poroshenko told reporters in NYC on Thursday after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
It was the second meeting between Presidents Poroshenko and Trump this year. The previous meeting took place at the White House on June 20th. After Wednesday’s meeting behind closed doors, Trump told reporters that progress had been made in Ukrainian reforms.
VOICE Trump: We spent some time recently in the White House, and I know you've made good progress since then -- a lot of progress, actually. And I wouldn't say it's the easiest place right now to live, but you're making it better and better on a daily basis. And I do hear very, very good things. Donald Trump.
HOST: According to Poroshenko, Ukraine-U.S. economic and military cooperation has improved under the Trump administration.
VOICE Poroshenko: And I really think that our cooperation, both in the security and defense sector, which is bringing already the first important results under your leadership, and the second, we seriously improved our economic cooperation. I just mention one single figure: The turnover between the United States and Ukraine during the last seven months increased 2.5 times because of the implementation of our agreement. And this is, again, the symbol that we welcome in American companies in the Ukrainian market, and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs both in Ukraine and the U.S. And this is really a delivery from effective cooperation between our nations. Petro Poroshenko.
Trump said in turn that despite Ukraine not being “the easiest place to live, it gets along well, pretty well”, adding that U.S. businesses are very interested in Ukraine, and see a huge potential there.
During the joint press briefing Poroshenko expressed sympathy to the American people over the recent hurricanes, Irma and Harvey that brought devastation across the southern states in the last few weeks. He said he admired Trump’s leadership in difficult times.
A few hours before, Poroshenko said at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly. “Ukraine is seeking peace and restoration of sovereignty over its entire territory while Russia wants to control Ukraine and undermines all the efforts aimed at restoring sovereignty within the Ukrainian boundaries.”
He reminded that for decades Ukraine has been a strong contributor to global security. In the name of peace and in exchange for security guarantees, Ukraine gave up its third largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Twenty years later, Russia a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum – the one that pledged to respect and protect Ukraine’s borders – brutally grabbed the Crimean peninsula and invaded the eastern regions of the country.
Poroshenko also reminded that back in the spring of 2015 he officially asked the UN Security Council President to start procedures for deploying a UN peacekeeping mission to Ukraine.
"By now this initiative has been supported by the overwhelming majority of nations,” he said, noting that the Kremlin insists on the presence of UN peacekeepers only on the contact line separating the Kyiv-controlled and the separatist-controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“These hybrid "peacekeeping proposals" from Moscow are yet another example of Russia's true ambitions to legalize their “puppets” and freeze the conflict forever,” Poroshenko said, adding that the Ukrainian side would welcome any meaningful proposal that would bring peace to the country.
Speaking about Ukraine’s economic status, Poroshenko said, “Ukraine has laid a strong basis for sustainable economic growth. And the proof of this is the growth of its gross domestic product. According to the National Bank's forecasts, this year Ukraine's GDP is expected to grow by 1.6%. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund predict GDP growth rate in 2017 at 2%.”
The Ukrainian President attributed positive economic dynamics to the government’s successful reform efforts, in particular decentralization and deregulation, as well as to the ongoing reforms.
According to him, among the key priorities of the UN Development Program 2030 in Ukraine are sustainable energy supply, food security, promotion of innovations, reliable infrastructure, an effective healthcare system, accessible education, and decent labor remuneration.
During his visit to New York, Poroshenko also met with the leaders of Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and other countries to discuss steps for the de-occupation of Crimea, Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine, and the extension of sanctions against Moscow. In particular, meeting with Austrian President and OSCE chairman-in-office, Alexander van der Bellen, Poroshenko called on the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to maintain an active dialogue with the United Nations regarding the Ukraine issue. The two presidents agreed on the importance of beefing up the technical and technological capabilities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to ensure its efficient operation in the Donbas.
A record–high number of Hasidic pilgrims – more than 30,000 from 14countries – gathered in Uman, Cherkassy region, this week to celebrate Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year. This year it falls on September 20th.
The traditional place for celebrations is the gravesite of Tsadik Nahman, the founder of Hassidism. “It is a sacred duty for every Hassid to visit Nahman’s grave at least once in their lifetime, and the best occasion is Rosh Hashanah,” said Eli.
210 years ago he said – he bequeathed – that every man who believes in him and follows his teaching must visit his grave on this holiday. Since then, Hassidim have come here from a dozen countries, said Hassidic pilgrim Eli.
State Border Service Chief Andriy Demchenko told RU that Ukrainian border guards had coped with the massive inflow of Hassidic pilgrims and had cooperated with the law enforcers to ensure maximum security for the pilgrims throughout their stay in the country.
The Rosh Hashanah celebrations started at sunset on Wednesday and lasted three days with a lot of praying, singing, and dancing. The traditional Rosh Hashanah meal included a flat loaf of bread – “Khala”, the round shape of which symbolizes the end of one circle of life and the start of another. Other must have meals were apples and honey for the next year to be sweet, and pomegranates for good deeds to be as many as the seeds in this fruit.
