Kyiv Called Moscow’s Sanctions List an Attempt to Influence Ukraine

Moscow intends to influence Kyiv on the eve of elections in Ukraine, said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Pavlo Klimkin. The Russian Federation imposed economic sanctions against 322 citizens of Ukraine and 68 companies. “Even an absolutely superficial analysis of Russia’s so-called sanctions list and the time of its publication indicates the start of a multi-episode soap opera to try to influence Ukraine in the run-up to the elections and after them", he tweeted wrote on November 1. “But in fact this is not even the first episode, this is only a teaser”. In March 2019, the presidential elections will be held in Ukraine, in October, the same year - the elections of the Verkhovna Rada deputies. “Recognition of work” of the presidential team A spokesperson for the Ukrainian president, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, described the appearance of the sanctions list as “recognition of the work” of Petro Poroshenko team “to counter Russian aggression”. The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan called his inclusion in the list of Moscow “pleasant and even honorable”. “The Kremlin itself recognized me and many of my colleagues from the Ukrainian government as people of a distinctly pro-Ukrainian, pro-Western and simply of unified position”, the minister said on his Facebook page. In turn, the politician Yulia Tymoshenko said that she was “little excited” by the Kremlin’s sanctions. She considers the “success of Ukraine, building a strong democratic, European state” state an adequate response to the “Russian invader”. "These are the sanction which willnot lead the Kremlin to the good!", - said Timoshenko in Facebook. Source: DW