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| Ukrainian currency slumps as fraying peace deal raises economic fears | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| KIEV — Ukraine’s currency touched record lows on Monday as fears of continued violence in the rebel-held east fueled pessimism about the country’s economic future. | |
| The currency slump came as the Ukrainian military said that it would not pull back its heavy weapons from the conflict’s front lines until pro-Russian rebels fully stop attacking them. Rebels leaders said that they have agreed to begin a fuller pullback starting Tuesday. | |
| A withdrawal of heavy weaponry is a key step in a cease-fire deal reached this month, but both sides have said fighting is continuing and has throw doubt about efforts to quell the 10-month-old conflict. | |
| Fighting between Russian-aligned separatists and Ukraine’s Western-allied government has claimed more than 5,600 lives in the worst bloodshed in Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, according to U.N. estimates. | |
| On Monday alone, the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, fell 10 percent against the U.S. dollar before easing slightly — yet another painful hit to the nation’s flatlining economy. The combination of military setbacks and fiscal woes are increasingly threatening the pro-Western leaders in Kiev. | |
| Ukraine’s currency has dropped 46 percent in February alone, and is down 71 percent in the year since President Viktor Yanukovych fled office after months of pro-European street protests. | |
| The Ukrainian Central Bank on Monday announced new measures to try to stem the losses, imposing limits on Ukrainian businesses’ ability to purchase foreign currency. | |
| The nose-diving currency puts even more pressure on government finances, making it harder for the country to buy energy, military hardware and the basics necessary for a war-hit population. It also sends inflation skyrocketing for any imported goods, meaning that ordinary citizens are effectively taking a sharp pay cut. | |
| The plunge calls into question Ukraine’s ability to repay money it has borrowed from global creditors. The central bank’s reserves of foreign currency are scraping bottom, raising the prospect that the nation could soon go bankrupt. | |
| Ukrainian military officials said Monday that ongoing violence meant they could not pull back their weaponry. | |
| Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh told reporters in Kiev there were two artillery attacks overnight and although much fewer than in previous days, “as long as firing on Ukrainian military positions continues, it’s not possible to talk about a pullback.” | |
| Under the internationally brokered peace deal reached in Minsk, Belarus two weeks ago, both sides are due to withdraw their heavy weapons from the front line to create a buffer zone. Ukrainian officials said Sunday they were planning to begin the withdrawal. | |
| The statement came one day after a bomb killed two people Sunday at a march in the city of Kharkiv commemorating the first anniversary of the ouster of Yanukovych. Ukrainian officials said Russia was behind the attack. | |
| Yanukovych had enjoyed the Kremlin’s favor, and when he fled from Kiev a year ago in the face of the huge protests on the Maidan, or Independence Square, that set in motion Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and the beginning of the separatist fighting in the eastern part of the country. | Yanukovych had enjoyed the Kremlin’s favor, and when he fled from Kiev a year ago in the face of the huge protests on the Maidan, or Independence Square, that set in motion Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and the beginning of the separatist fighting in the eastern part of the country. |
| The attack is the latest in a string of bombings in Kharkiv over the past few months, including explosions outside a courthouse that injured 14 last month, outside a national guard outpost, near a military hospital and at a bar frequented by Kiev supporters. Kharkiv is about 90 miles northwest of the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which pro-Russian separatists are seeking to claim as republics independent from Kiev. It was where Yanukovych made a brief stop on his flight into exile in Russia. | The attack is the latest in a string of bombings in Kharkiv over the past few months, including explosions outside a courthouse that injured 14 last month, outside a national guard outpost, near a military hospital and at a bar frequented by Kiev supporters. Kharkiv is about 90 miles northwest of the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which pro-Russian separatists are seeking to claim as republics independent from Kiev. It was where Yanukovych made a brief stop on his flight into exile in Russia. |
| Ukrainian officials called the bombing an act of terrorism. | Ukrainian officials called the bombing an act of terrorism. |
| Markian Lubkivskyi, a spokesman for the national Security Service, said that the alleged perpetrators of Sunday’s bombing had been trained in Russia and that their bomb had been made in Russia. | Markian Lubkivskyi, a spokesman for the national Security Service, said that the alleged perpetrators of Sunday’s bombing had been trained in Russia and that their bomb had been made in Russia. |
| The Kremlin did not comment on the Kharkiv attack Sunday, but in the past, Russia has denied any direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict. | The Kremlin did not comment on the Kharkiv attack Sunday, but in the past, Russia has denied any direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict. |
| The cease-fire’s efficacy has been in doubt since it was signed two weeks ago, as fighting in the key transport hub of Debaltseve only increased in the days after the agreement was struck. Pro-Kiev forces retreated from the city last week. | The cease-fire’s efficacy has been in doubt since it was signed two weeks ago, as fighting in the key transport hub of Debaltseve only increased in the days after the agreement was struck. Pro-Kiev forces retreated from the city last week. |
| Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military did swap prisoners Saturday, an event officials on both sides of the conflict suggested could be followed by another exchange soon. | Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military did swap prisoners Saturday, an event officials on both sides of the conflict suggested could be followed by another exchange soon. |
| But military officials in Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, reported Sunday that rebels had launched an offensive to the east of the city. | But military officials in Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, reported Sunday that rebels had launched an offensive to the east of the city. |
| Meanwhile, European leaders appeared with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at events commemorating the Maidan anniversary in Kiev on Sunday, where the European Council president, Donald Tusk, suggested that Europe would soon revisit the subject of broadening economic sanctions against Russia. | Meanwhile, European leaders appeared with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at events commemorating the Maidan anniversary in Kiev on Sunday, where the European Council president, Donald Tusk, suggested that Europe would soon revisit the subject of broadening economic sanctions against Russia. |
| Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report. |