Ukrainian, Russian Foreign Ministers Agree to Differ on Blacklists

Text of report by Ukrainian state-owned television UT1 on 7 June

[Presenter] What to do with blacklists of personae non gratae has been one of the subjects of negotiations in Moscow between the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers. Kiev will abandon the practice of banning well-known Russians from entering Ukraine – but on condition that they learn to respect Ukraine. This is the opinion held by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Earlier the Foreign Ministry had said it would not accept the Russian proposal to ban the mutual bans on unwanted individuals. Mykhaylo Prudnyk reports on the chances of Ukraine and Russia ceasing to deport citizens from airports.

[Correspondent] The Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries have managed to find a common language on a number of issues that have been problematic. But the persona non grata exchange was a fly in the ointment of cooperation. The minister admitted the existence of lists of unwanted visitors. But the ministers do not say how many people and who exactly are on the lists. It is yet impossible to drop the lists altogether. A number of objective circumstances stand in the way, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

[Lavrov, in Russian overlaid with Ukrainian translation] The lists exist, just as they exist in Ukraine. In April, when Arseniy Petrovych [Yatsenyuk] came to Moscow for an informal exchange of thoughts, we proposed abolishing the lists altogether. We even sent an official note to our Ukrainian colleagues, suggesting we abolish the practice from 1 May. We have received no reply yet.

[Correspondent] The deportation of Russian political scientist [Aleksandr] Dugin and Ukrainian presidential adviser [Mykola] Zhulynskyy may not be the last incident. To avoid such things happening in the future and to get rid of the blacklists, it is necessary to teach your citizens to respect the policy of other countries, Arseniy Yatsenyuk believes.

[Yatsenyuk, in Russian overlaid with Ukrainian translation] Theoretically, we do not rule out that we may abolish the lists, but this involves great work. It is mainly about teaching citizens and politicians to be guided not only by some obscure interests but by principles of mutual respect for both countries.

[Correspondent] The ministries hope to put an end to the lists, just as they have succeeding in settling differences on problematic issues. At the present time there are no serious differences of opinion at the level of the ministries, the officials say. The work of the Putin-Yushchenko state commission and its subcommissions has been almost fully agreed. Everything is also ready for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. There is also a common stance on the Black Sea Fleet and border controls. But crossing the border may still be a problem for some people on the blacklist.

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