Ukraine Approves NATO War Games, Russia Ends Gas Discount

Ukrainian parliament approved don Tuesday a series of joint military exercises with NATO countries, as Russia announced it was ending a gas discount enjoyed by Kiev.

“This is a good opportunity to develop our armed forces,” acting defense minister Mykhailo Koval told Verkhovna Rada lawmakers ahead of the 235-0 vote.Ukraine_parliament

Ukraine is not a NATO member and its new Western-backed leaders have vowed not to push for closer relations with the Brussels-based military alliance — a bloc that has been viewed with deep mistrust by Moscow since the Cold War.

But the ex-Soviet nation did form a “distinctive partnership” with the Alliance in 1997 and has been staging joint exercises with its state members ever since.

The exercises approved on Tuesday would see Ukraine conduct two sets of military exercises with the United States this summer that have prompted disquiet in Russia in previous years.

The decision came as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting dominated by concern over the recent buildup of Russian forces near Crimea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s parliament also on Tuesday voted to disarm all self-defense groups that had sprung up across the country during its political crisis.

“The Ukrainian people are demanding order,” acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said. “Those who carry arms — besides the police, the security services and the national guard — are saboteurs who are working against the country.”

Gas Discount Ends
For its part, Russian gas giant Gazprom announced it was ending a gas discount enjoyed by Kiev in a major blow for the Ukrainian economy.

Ukraine will now pay $385.5 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas from the previous cut rate of $268.5, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said.

“The discount will no longer apply,” he said in a statement. “This is due to the inability of the Ukrainian side to pay for debts from 2013 and realize full payments for current deliveries.”