MOSCOW: French President Francois Hollande yesterday became the first European leader to fly to Russia in an attempt to defuse the standoff with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, where the latest round of peace talks will take place next week.
Meeting with Putin in the diplomatic terminal of an airport outside the capital, Hollande said he hoped to stop a new East-West division from arising in Europe, as the conflict in eastern Ukraine has plunged its relations with Moscow to a post-Cold War low.
“There are times when we need to seize opportunities. This is such a time... I think we must prevent other walls from separating us,” said Hollande, who also spoke to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko earlier in the day.
“We must find solutions together,” he told the Russian leader, who this week gave a militant speech accusing the West of undermining Russia.
Putin said there are “difficult problems” to tackle but that the visit would “without a doubt contribute to the resolution of many problems”. In a crucial admission, Putin said for the first time that the pro-Russian rebels have violated a shaky ceasefire with Kiev.
“We see that both from the side of Kiev leadership and from the side of Donetsk and Lugansk, from both sides, not everything is respected,” he told journalists after the meeting lasting nearly two hours.
Hollande’s last-minute visit, which a source in his delegation said was also agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, comes as Kiev announced a fresh round of talks with the rebels next week to try and rescue the September ceasefire.
The talks set for Tuesday will include envoys from Russia and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and will aim to “confirm the timetable for implementing the (original) Minsk agreements,” Poroshenko said while on a visit to Kharkiv region.
The previous agreements committed both sides to stopping fire and pulling back artillery, but succeeded only in curbing the worst violence without ending it completely.
Ukraine and the rebels, whose fighting in the east has already claimed more than 4,300 lives, have agreed to suspend military operations on December 9, calling it a “Day of Silence”.
“In the subsequent 30 days, (the sides) must pull back (heavy weapons) from the demilitarisation zone outlined in the Minsk Protocol,” Poroshenko said.
Hollande said all parties must “use all available instruments to end the crisis” and that the new ceasefire “has to work” and be “completely respected.”
The pro-Kiev governor of the eastern Lugansk region Gennadiy Moskal said two civilians had been killed in a village 15km northwest of Lugansk, while a security spokesman alleged that a convoy of more than 100 trucks and armoured vehicles had moved across the border from Russia on Friday.
Poroshenko said that 1,252 soldiers and volunteers fighting among Kiev’s forces have died over eight months of the conflict, and almost 3,000 have been wounded.
Putin this week indicated he has no intention of softening his stance on Ukraine, which the West says includes sending regular troops across the border to help the separatist cause.
“Every time someone believes Russia has become too strong, independent, these instruments get applied immediately,” Putin said in a speech, referring to the economic sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States that have weighed on the country’s economy at a time of falling oil prices.
AFP
