The relations between Moscow and Kiev remain strained on the eve of the Day of Russia. However despite the statement of the Ukrainian deputy of a possible severance of relations, the recent political contacts between Russia and Ukraine indicate otherwise
Recall that the reason to talk about a possible severance of the diplomatic relations has beсome a disruption of the upcoming official reception on the occasion of the Day of Russia in the Russian Consulate in Odessa by the Ukrainian nationalists and a reciprocal action in Moscow.
Since June 10th the activists of Right Sector, Automaidan and Self Defense are blocking the entrances and exits to the Russian Consulate, pelted the building with eggs, installed makeshift gallows and poured a horse manure in front of the building. In addition, the Ukrainian nationalists claimed that they will conduct an educational work with those who decide to attend the event.
The police of Odessa did not respond to a bullying of the Euromaidan’s supporters, having reported about a calm situation around the building of the Russian diplomatic mission.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the incident, said that ‘this once again testifies the fact that, unfortunately, the anti-Russian sentiment is still injected in Ukraine."
"But the Ukrainian government is not even able to ensure a compliance with the generally accepted norms of the international law relating to the smooth functioning of the diplomatic missions in the country,’’ the official representative of the Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said
The Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Konstantin Dolgov, described the campaign that took place near the walls of the Russian Consulate General in Odessa on the eve, as a ‘dirty and cowardly.’
It is reported that Russian activists also made a reciprocal action. So, today it was reported that the unknown pelted the embassy of Ukraine in Moscow with eggs this night. The reciprocal action of the Russian activists was a reason for the resonant statement of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Sergey Sobolev, who did not rule out the severance of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
It is worth noting that despite the overcrowding of the newswires with reports of a possible rupture of relations, a recovery in the bilateral contacts between Moscow and Kiev has been observed recently
So, a few weeks ago after a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko Nadezhda Savchenko was pardoned and returned to her homeland, as well as the Russian citizens - Evgeny Erofeev and Alexander Alexandrov.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow saw Washington's influence on Kiev in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
In addition, Russia and Ukraine have engaged in a dialogue about the possibility of some armed OSCE mission in Donbass.
The gas issue also returns to the bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine, because Kiev will have to replenish its supplies of natural gas for the autumn-winter period of 2016-2017. And, despite the fact that Naftogaz after a formal appeal to Gazprom has not yet agreed to buy Russian gas due to its high costs, experts agree that in any case, Ukraine will be back to the proposal of Gazprom, as far as European gas is still more expensive.
