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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) failed at its October 9 session to approve amendments to sanctions rules that would have enabled the Russian delegation to return to its activity , reported the eurointegration.com.ua news site. The measures earned 99 votes in support out of 216 votes needed. Debates were postponed until January, which is the earliest that another vote can occur. Russia has yet to submit its new proposals for a UN peacekeeping in Donbas, US Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker said in an October 7 interview with the hromadske.dn.ua news site. “I am in correspondence with (Russian presidential advisor Vladislav) Surkov about the contents of this meeting,” he said. “The Russians don’t agree with the proposals we submitted, but themselves have yet to propose any options.” Russia has militarized the Crimean peninsula to unprecedented levels, having chosen to widen and intensify its aggression campaign, Ukrainian Representative to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko told the UN on October 9. “The occupation and subsequent militarization of Crimea has long-reaching consequences for the security of not only the Black Sea region, but in all of southern Europe, as well as the North Africa and Middle East regions.”
Hungary is expelling a Ukrainian consul in retaliation against Ukraine’s expulsion of a Hungarian consul , Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on October 4. Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine’s foreign ministry declared a Hungarian consul serving in Berehove persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours. Hungary and Ukraine have been locked in a diplomatic row over dual citizenship ever since hidden camera footage showing the Hungarian consul conducting a Hungarian citizenship oath-taking ceremony for Ukrainian citizens at the consulate appeared online. Hungary says the consul had not broken any of Ukraine’s laws and called the recording a secret service operation that went against “every written and unwritten rule of diplomacy”.
The Ukrainian government has extended the so-called public service obligations (PSO) for the sale of natural gas for the needs of households and municipal heat supply companies at a reduced price until October 18. In March, the cabinet ruled that the public service obligations for the sale of gas to the public and heat supply companies would be in effect until April 1, however later, the government extended them several times - the last one until the end of September. The increase of the gas price for households is a crucial condition for the latest $2bn tranche due from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and part of its $17.5bn package agreed with Kyiv in 2015 alongside the adoption of the anti-corruption court legislation, and the implementation of measures to ensure that the 2018 budget deficit will not exceed the planned level. According to latest media reports, Ukraine and the country's main donor, the IMF, are discussing possible repackaging undrawn funds from the existing $17.5bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed in 2015 into a $5bn-$6bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The new support programme will be drafted and cover a 12-15 months period rather than the five year long programme currently in place. The Ukrainian government needs to accede to a 23% hike in the gas price for households by October 23 as part of the current talks.
A Ukrainian Su-27 military jet crashed during US-led air force combat training on October 16 in the Vinnytsia region. A Ukrainian Air Force officer and a US Air National Guard trainer were killed during the Clear Sky 2018 military exercises that also involved Danish pilots. “All aviation hardware involved in the training meets all technical standards and underwent the
15 UKRAINE Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com