From Ukraine's ambassador to Finland and Iceland...
Yanukovych Faces New Accusation In Ukraine, Trial Delayed Again
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- A Kyiv court adjourned Viktor Yanukovych's in absentia treason trial until September 21 after the former Ukrainian president's new lawyer asked for more time to prepare.
In a September 6 ruling, Obolon District Court Judge Vladyslav Devyatko granted new state-appointed defense attorney Maksym Herasko's request for additional time to get acquainted with the case.
The ruling came a day after Ukraine's chief prosecutor said that Yanukovych could now face a new charge -- illegally seizing power -- over constitutional changes made early in his presidential term.
Yanukovych's previous state-appointed lawyer, Vitaliy Meshechek, withdrew from proceedings on August 17, citing the "particular difficulty" of the case and saying he could not handle it properly without assistants.
Two lawyers who had represented Yanukovych before Meshechek withdrew from the case on July 6, saying that Yanukovych had informed them that he did not need their services anymore.
Yanukovych announced on that day that he would not participate in the trial, charging that it was politically motivated. The court then decided to provide him with a state-appointed lawyer.
Yanukovych abandoned office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of protests triggered by his decision to scrap plans for a landmark deal with the European Union and improve trade ties with Moscow instead.
Dozens of people were killed when his government attempted to clamp down on the pro-European protests known as the Euromaidan.
Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for Yanukovych, who is accused of treason, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abetting Russian aggression.
After he fled, Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented opposition to the central government in eastern Ukraine, where the ensuing war between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,000 people.
Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko wrote on Facebook on September 5 that a new investigation has been launched in which Yanukovych is suspected of "the illegal seizure of power via a constitutional coup in 2010."
"Yanukovych and former Justice Minister [Oleksandr] Lavrynovych have been informed that they are suspected of the illegal seizure of power along with other individuals," Lutsenko wrote.
Yanukovych was elected president in February 2010. In October 2010, Ukraine's Constitutional Court annulled 2004 constitutional amendments on transferring some presidential powers to the parliament.
Under the 2004 amendments, the president had lost the power to nominate the prime minister and dismiss a government.
In February 21, a day before Yanukovych was toppled, the Ukrainian parliament reinstated the 2004 constitutional amendments.
Here's another Ukraine-related item from our news desk, with reporting from RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
EU To Renew Russia Sanctions, Keep Bar On Antonov
BRUSSELS -- The European Union will prolong its asset freezes and visa bans on Russian officials and Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine for another six months, with Russia's new ambassador to the United States likely to remain on the list, diplomats said.
Ambassadors from the 28 EU member states decided to renew the measures at a meeting on September 6 in Brussels, according to several diplomats who were close to the talks but were not authorized to speak publicly about the decision.
EU justice ministers are expected to give the final confirmation on September 14, one day before they are due to expire, the diplomats said.
The diplomats said that Russia's new ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov will remain on the EU sanctions list as no country asked for his removal.
Antonov, a former deputy defense minister and deputy foreign minister who arrived in Washington on August 31 to take up his post, is under EU and Canadian sanctions but not U.S. sanctions.
Asset freezes and visa bans were first imposed by the EU on people responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity in March 2014, after Russia occupied and seized control of Crimea. Those sanctions have been extended every six months.
The Russians under EU sanctions include Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin; Sergei Glazyev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin; Armed Forces General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov; and state TV presenter Dmitry Kiselyov.
The EU will also add the company Crimean Sea Ports, which runs several ports on the peninsula, to the sanctions list and remove four separatists who have died since the last renewal.
A total of 149 people and 38 entities are expected to remain on the list.