By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- When Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin held a UN press conference on April 29, Inner City Press asked him about the status of the country's talks with its creditors and the International Monetary Fund, and of the investigations into the killings of Oleg Kalashnikov and Oles Buzyna.
Klimkin said that the financial talks are going well; the killing he said were meant to destaiblize the country and would be investigated. He said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should not go to Moscow on May 9 in commemoration of World War Two.
Back on September 22, 2014 when Ukraine's Klimkin held a press conference at the UN, Inner City Press asked him about battalions in the East like Azov and Aidar, accused by Amnesty International of abuses.
Klimkin said that all battalions are part of the army or national guard; the government had checked the Amnesty report.
Inner City Press also asked if Ukraine will be speaking with the International Monetary Fund to modify its program. Klimkin said the program had not taken into account developments in Donetsk and Lugansk and should, now.
He said that President Petro Poroshenko may not be the one to speak for Ukraine in the UN General Assembly, as he may need to "be on the ground." He said the soccer or football teams in Donetsky and Lugansk should remain in the Ukrainian League. (This question, he initially laughed at).
Back on September 12, when Ukraine'sAmbassador Yuriy Sergeyev took questions Inner City Press also asked him about Amnesty International's damning report about the pro-Kyiv Aidar Battalion, and about Point 11 of the Protocol, "Economic Reconstruction of Eastern Ukraine."
On Aidar, Sergeyev replied that the separatists had been dressing up in the pro-government militia's uniforms. Is that something that Amnesty would have entirely missed? Their report is online here.
On economic reconstruction, Sergeyev distinguished between regions that were never with the "terrorists," those that had been liberated, and... others, presumably Donetsk and Luhansk.
On a second around, Inner City Press asked Sergeyev about reports Ukraine is getting sophisticated weapons from a "non-NATO" country. He said there are negotiations that he couldn't get into the details of, since the counter-parties might pull out.
In past Sergeyev briefings, for example on September 4, the first question has been claimed by UNCA, now the UN's Censorship Alliance. On September 12, there was no UNCA representative present -- an insider briefing elsewhere about which the scribes are not supposed to report. Sergeyev was thanked by the new Free UN Coalition for Access for showing up and answering questions on-the-record, as it should be.
In that spirit, Inner City Press put online each of the five pages of Sergeyev's opening statement, here, here, here,here and here.
Back on September 4, Inner City Press asked Sergeyev about challenges from the right to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, for example from Right Sector, AVOZ, and militia commanders like Dmytro Linko and Semen Semenchenko, who has spoken of the need “to establish our own internal command.”
Sergeyev replied that “naturally, some generals want to be stronger.”
So are these are generals? Despite talk in Minsk of a ceasefire, Sergeyev insisted that the “law enforcement action” would continue.
Sergeyev began on September 4 by offering thanks to USg Jeffrey Feltman and to Valerie Amos -- but not John Ging.
Back on August 24 when Amos visited Eastern Ukraine, her and Ging's agency OCHA put out a press releasesaying that
Amos visited an internally displacement persons' center in Krasnyi Lyman and “met women who had fled the fighting with their families.” The UN OCHA statement on Sunday said that “since March this year, around 200,000 people have fled their homes in search of safety within Ukraine and tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries.”
What does "tens of thousands" mean -- and why is it so different from what OCHA official John Ging told the UN Security Council on August 5? In that Council session, Ging said
“since the start of the year 168,677 Ukrainians are registered as having crossed into Russia, with nearly 60,000 of these having applied for refugee status and a further 115,952 having applied for other forms of legal stay.”
Ging on August 5 acknowledged that “this is not the full picture as many Ukrainians that have fled their homes do not register with Ukrainian authorities or officially apply for assistance. The Russian authorities and UNHCR are reporting that 740,000 people have crossed the border since the start of the year.”
Ging on August 5 acknowledged that “this is not the full picture as many Ukrainians that have fled their homes do not register with Ukrainian authorities or officially apply for assistance. The Russian authorities and UNHCR are reporting that 740,000 people have crossed the border since the start of the year.”
While technically both 740,000 and 168,677 are made up of "tens of thousands," there is a striking disparity between what Ging told the Security Council on August 5, and the OCHA's August 24 press release on Amos' visit to Krasnyi Lyman. What explains it?
Back on August 24 just as an emergency but closed-door meeting of the Security Council about Ukraine began, and after the US, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued this statement:
The Secretary-General follows with deep concern reports that a Russian aid convoy has crossed the border into Ukraine without the permission of the Ukrainian authorities. While recognising the deteriorating humanitarian situation, any unilateral action has the potential of exacerbating an already dangerous situation in eastern Ukraine.
Once again, the Secretary-General urges all sides, in particular Ukraine and the Russian Federation, to continue to work together, in coordination with the international community, to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the most affected areas. He reiterates that all sides should continue to exercise maximum restraint and avoid escalation.
In this regard, he is encouraged by the announcement from President Petro Poroshenko that Ukraine will do everything possible to prevent more serious consequences as a result of the convoy moving into Ukrainian territory.
How was this statement formulated? By whom? Inner City Press asked: What is the position of the UN's humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who has elsewhere called for cross-border aid?
