Ukraine moves to cut off separatist zone
11/6/2014 10:03:45 PM
Ukraine announced passport controls around pro-Russian rebel areas Thursday, effectively acknowledging the breaking away of the separatist zone, as intense shelling in Donetsk stirred fears of renewed full-scale fighting.
Ukraine's border guards service said anyone crossing in or out of rebel areas will now have to present a passport. Ukrainians will be allowed through, while foreigners will "be sent to filtration points to determine the purpose of their visit" and will have to show a visa, a statement said.
The rule was explained as a security measure to seal off the eastern conflict areas.
However, the passport regime will amount to an internal border, underscoring the Russian-backed guerrillas' success in carving out two self-declared statelets centred on Donetsk and Lugansk. Already, Ukraine has lost control of its real border with Russia, which is in the hands of separatist guerrillas and Russian troops.
In another sign that Ukraine's government has given up regaining control of the east anytime soon, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Wednesday that subsidies and social payments, including pensions, would be halted to rebel-controled areas.
The developments in Kiev came against a background of fierce shelling in Donetsk and other incidents that fed fears of a total breakdown in a peace plan signed in September.
The Ukrainian government's Western allies have expressed growing concern over the situation and on Thursday the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said a meeting would take place in 10 days to discuss the future of sanctions imposed on Russia.
"We have to see clearly what is happening on the ground from now until then," she said.
Poland's foreign minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, warned of a repeat of the Cold War which divided communist and democratic Europe for decades.
"We don't want a new Iron Curtain," he said.
And in a new blow to Russia, France's prime minister, Manuel Valls, said that Paris was for now sticking with its decision to suspend delivery of two French-built warships. Russia has already paid for them, but the deal was frozen in response to the Kremlin's role in Ukraine.
Ukraine's border guards service said anyone crossing in or out of rebel areas will now have to present a passport. Ukrainians will be allowed through, while foreigners will "be sent to filtration points to determine the purpose of their visit" and will have to show a visa, a statement said.
The rule was explained as a security measure to seal off the eastern conflict areas.
However, the passport regime will amount to an internal border, underscoring the Russian-backed guerrillas' success in carving out two self-declared statelets centred on Donetsk and Lugansk. Already, Ukraine has lost control of its real border with Russia, which is in the hands of separatist guerrillas and Russian troops.
In another sign that Ukraine's government has given up regaining control of the east anytime soon, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Wednesday that subsidies and social payments, including pensions, would be halted to rebel-controled areas.
The developments in Kiev came against a background of fierce shelling in Donetsk and other incidents that fed fears of a total breakdown in a peace plan signed in September.
The Ukrainian government's Western allies have expressed growing concern over the situation and on Thursday the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said a meeting would take place in 10 days to discuss the future of sanctions imposed on Russia.
"We have to see clearly what is happening on the ground from now until then," she said.
Poland's foreign minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, warned of a repeat of the Cold War which divided communist and democratic Europe for decades.
"We don't want a new Iron Curtain," he said.
And in a new blow to Russia, France's prime minister, Manuel Valls, said that Paris was for now sticking with its decision to suspend delivery of two French-built warships. Russia has already paid for them, but the deal was frozen in response to the Kremlin's role in Ukraine.