The coalition of parliamentary parties has been created. US Vice President Biden arrived in Kiev on an official visit. The intensity of the fighting in the Donbas fell slightly.
Ukraine
● Five democratic parties, which were the winners of early parliamentary elections, have signed the coalition agreement before the first session of the Verkhovna Rada.
● Prosecutor General Yarema said that the law “On the purification of power” contradicts the Constitution and gives reason for sacked officials to go to court.
● Kharkiv police suspects that suicide of the banker and a business partner of former Governor Dobkin was staged.
● National Bank continues to strengthen the hryvnia after a sharp drop last week: 15.15 UAH / $ (-5 cop.), 18.99 UAH / € (-3 cop.), 3.22 UAH / 10 RUB.
● According to the results of stress tests conducted by the National Bank, Ukrainian banks need to increase their capital by the amount of UAH 66 billion ($ 4.3 billion).
● The head of the World Bank Fan expects some improvement of Ukrainian economy in the fourth quarter, and insists on the immediate introduction of radical economic reforms.
Kyiv
● Kiev authorities deny accusations by the Minister of Finance about the increase of spending on the bureaucracy apparatus, which has led to cost overruns and lack of money for public sector wages.
War in Ukraine
● The process of replacement of militants with regular Russian army units is ongoing in the combat zone in the south of Donetsk region. Militants continue shelling of Avdeyevka, Pisky, towns in the Novotroitsk area, Granitne, Debaltseve, Schastya. Several people were wounded during shelling of the city of Schastya and Stanica Luganska.
● Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that Russia is blocking the expansion of the OSCE mission abilities for controlling implementation of the Minsk Agreement in Donbas.
● According to official reports of the UN, more than 950 people were killed during the “truce” in the Donbas region. Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 4,300 people were killed and more than 9,900 wounded.
International
● According to Reuters, the US will not provide Ukraine lethal weapons for now. US State Department representative said that the possibility of such help will be discussed during the visit of US Vice-President to Kiev. One of the leaders of the Republican majority in the US Senate, McCain declared readiness of his party to put pressure on the administration to speed up the provisioning of weapons to Ukraine and other Eastern European allies.
● France has launched the second helicopter carrier of the “Mistral” class ordered by Russia. The first ship is not transferred to the Russian Federation in accordance with EU sanctions.
● Poland is preparing to buy from the United States the latest cruise missiles with a range of up to thousands of kilometers, and place them on the F-16 fighters.
● German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed through the canceling of the forum of civil society representatives of Germany and Russia “Petersburg Dialogue” because of the worsening political situation.
● According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russian international currency reserves fell to a five-year minimum.
Trends
● Hacker attacks on websites, mail servers and computers of Ukrainian government bodies have not led to replacement of the operating system on their computer with an open source system, which is not susceptible to virus attacks.
● Support for rejection of attempts to find a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Donbas is brewing in Ukrainian society in connection with the ongoing attacks, shelling and deaths of Ukrainian servicemen.
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