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BRUSSELS: The European Union called on Russia Thursday to “urgently” release Ukraine military pilot Nadia Savenchko on humanitarian grounds after 75 days on hunger strike to protest her detention.
A spokesperson for EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Russia “bears a responsibility for her very fragile health” after a Moscow court rejected Savchenko’s appeal against her pre-trial detention.
Her release “would be in keeping with the recently agreed (Minsk cease-fire accords) ... and the commitment to release all hostages and detained persons related to the conflict in Ukraine,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko raised Savchenko’s case at the Feb. 12 Minsk summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
Savchenko, 33, is charged with involvement in the deaths of two Russian reporters killed in east Ukraine in June.
She is alleged to have been abducted by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and smuggled to Moscow. Russia says she crossed the border of her own accord, pretending to be a refugee.
Savchenko, who denies the charges, has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine where she won a parliamentary seat in absentia in October.
On Monday, the German government said two German doctors had visited Savchenko on Feb. 15 but gave no details of her condition.
The German Foreign Ministry however called for her release, voicing “serious concern” about her health. The EU said it has invited the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers to Brussels on Monday for talks on resolving a bitter gas supply dispute which threatens deliveries to Europe.
Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom threatened on Tuesday to cut off deliveries to Ukraine, diverting deliveries instead to eastern parts of the country.
“I can confirm (European Commission vice-president for energy union Maros Sefcovic) has sent letters to the Russian and Ukraine energy ministers inviting them to Brussels on Monday.
We are now awaiting final confirmation,” Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.
Itkonen told reporters the Commission expected both sides to continue to respect a “winter package” deal mediated by the EU late last year which guaranteed Russian gas supplies to Ukraine through to March.
The latest row has placed that accord in jeopardy. While Kiev blames Russia, the rebels say Ukrainian state gas giant Naftogaz had struck first, halting its supplies to the areas they controlled.