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Post by Admin on Feb 6, 2015 22:31:09 GMT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande head to Moscow on Friday to secure President Vladimir Putin's support for a peace plan to end surging separatist violence in the east. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said talks with Merkel and Hollande late Thursday raised "hope for a ceasefire" after the duo jetted in to Kiev in the biggest push yet to resolve the ten-month-old conflict. As fears have soared over an escalation in the conflict, Merkel said on Friday in Berlin that the surprise peace bid was aimed at defending "European peace" and that the duo were not acting merely as "neutral intermediaries". Hollande said that they were heading to Moscow to "seek a deal" with Putin that would help end the crisis in the long-term. "Everyone is aware that the first step must be a ceasefire, but that is not enough and there must be a comprehensive settlement," Hollande told reporters ahead of his departure. The two European leaders fly to Moscow later Friday to meet Putin — who the west sees as the mastermind behind Ukraine's pro-Moscow rebellion — in hopes he will sign up to the peace plan. The frantic high-level diplomacy to end the worst east-west crisis since the end of the Cold War came as US Secretary of State John Kerry also visited Kiev on Thursday and Washington mulled whether to supply arms to the Ukraine army. As pressure grows for a peaceful resolution to the conflict that has killed over 5,300 people, rebel and Ukranian forces on the ground agreed a ceasefire for several hours Friday around the battleground town of Debaltseve to allow civilians to leave, both sides said. An AFP journalist in government-held Debaltseve said some 25 city buses sent by both the rebels and Kiev drove into the shattered town to take civilians out to their respective territories. The sound of sporadic shelling could be heard in the distance but mortar bombardments in the town itself had halted after days of fierce fighting. Ukrainian Major General Oleksandr Rozmaznin said that the truce around the town that rebels have almost encircled would last from 0600-0800 GMT and from 1200-1600 GMT on Friday. Hundreds of civilians have been killed over recent weeks in east Ukraine as fighting spiralled after insurgents ignored an earlier truce deal and pushed into government-held territory. Before setting off on the surprise diplomatic push, Hollande said Thursday that he and Merkel would "propose a new solution to the conflict based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine". Merkel is set to arrive in Moscow at 1330 GMT while Hollande will touch down at 1430 GMT, Russia's foreign ministry said. No confirmed details have emerged of what exactly the new peace proposal contains and there is much disquiet in Kiev after the collapse of the previous peace deal. Kerry said that the plan is a "counter-proposal" made by Merkel and Hollande to suggestions made earlier this week by Putin. The European plan was then presented to the US and Ukraine for their input Wednesday.
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Post by Admin on Feb 9, 2015 22:41:15 GMT
The agreement on Russian-Cypriot military cooperation that is planned to be signed by Greek President Nicos Anastasiades later in February in Moscow does not foresee creating a Russian military base in Cyprus, RIA Novosti reported Monday, citing a diplomatic source in Athens. “The issue of creating a Russian military base is not being discussed. We’re talking about providing the possibilities of using an airbase in Pathos that other countries such as Germany and France use,” the diplomatic source said. The base is used for refueling, evacuation operations and technical service, the source said. Russia currently refuels its military ships in the port of Limassol and such cooperation is planned to be expanded, he said. As part of his February 25 visit, Anastasiades is expected to renew Nicosia's defense agreement with Moscow, as well as provide Russia with additional facilities on Cyprus. British High Commissioner to Cyprus Ric Todd was quoted by the Cypriot daily Kathimerini as saying that Cyprus' stance toward Russia must fall in line with that of the European Union. In response, Anastasiadis said Sunday that Cyprus is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions, adding that Nicosia has never interfered in the British government's foreign policy.
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Post by Admin on Feb 12, 2015 22:29:07 GMT
Following negotiations between Ukraine and Russia led by Germany and France a ceasefire has been reached in the ongoing fighting in Ukraine. Negotiations took place in the capital of Belarus, Minsk and appeared on the verge of collapsing throughout the night, however an early Thursday morning deal was reached among the parties. This is the second ceasefire drafted out of Minsk, with the first last September failing to hold. The ceasefire is to begin February 15th and has been signed between pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and the central government. It calls for a ceasefire to begin at 12:01 am on the 15th, with details of the agreement including the following: - Withdrawal of all heavy weaponry within 2 weeks, along with any foreign troops in Ukraine - Release of all prisoners and amnesty for all fighters involved in the crisis along with disarmament - The lifting of restrictions in all rebel held areas - Control of the border between Ukraine and Russia handed to the Ukraine by the end of 2015 Ceasefire lines are to be maintained according to the last ceasefire, with rebels losing some of the territory they had gained since September. It still remains to be seen what will ultimately happen in cities such as Debaltseve, which is currently held by government forces and surrounded by rebels. Debalsteve has been the scene of heavy fighting in the recent past. There are also questions surrounding the ultimate autonomy of Donetsk and Luhansk which are currently rebel-held, and while not included in the negotiation talks, signed off on the 13 point agreement. Beyond disarmament of warring groups, Ukraine is to draft a new constitution by the end of the year granting separatist regions increased autonomy from the central government through decentralized power. Donetsk and Luhansk will also have elections held under Ukrainian law. All sides included in the talks were cautious and wary of expressing optimism that the peace deal would hold, but nonetheless seemed pleased to have made some progress. The White House said of the deal that it was a “significant step” but shared concerns over ongoing fighting in the east. Some strategists fear an uptick in fighting as the ceasefire deadline grows closer, but for now peace seems to be in the horizon. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman offered this tweet after the agreement had been reached “After 17 hours, negotiations in Minsk have finished: ceasefire from Feb. 15 at zero hours, then withdrawal of heavy weapons. Therein lies hope.”
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Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2015 22:18:34 GMT
Putin’s suspicion of NATO can be boiled down to one simple explanation: geography. At the height of the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s power, the USSR and its allied Warsaw Pact countries encompassed half of Europe and almost the entirety of Central Asia. But after the demise of the USSR in 1989, lands once within Moscow’s orbit quickly peeled away to join NATO. Today, only Belarus remains firmly within Moscow’s influence, and even that partnership has teetered recently. For Putin, the peeling away of countries from Russia towards NATO comes as both an existential threat and a personal insult. As a former agent in the KGB and an avowed nationalist, Putin has dreams of resurrecting the glories of Imperial Russia — a goal that is seriously hampered by the inclusion of what Putin would deem rightful Russian lands, such as the Baltics, into the NATO alliance. With this in mind, it is easy to see why Putin signed off on Russia’s new military doctrine in December 2014. The doctrine, which placed explicit focus on NATO being Moscow’s main existential enemy and threat, called on the further militarization of three geopolitical frontlines: the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad near Poland, the annexed Crimean peninsula, and the Arctic. Putin almost certainly saw the uprising in Ukraine — during which the country’s pro-Russian leadership was replaced in favour of a more western-friendly one in the beginning of 2014 — as the last straw. The subsequent annexation of Crimea and the backing of separatists in the east served to delay Ukraine’s eventual pivot towards the European Union and NATO. “Expanding NATO further into post-Soviet space is a red line with Russia, and the US is frankly not in a position to challenge it without running a huge risk,” Greg Scoblete of RealClearWorld told Forbes. “Put bluntly, Russia will be able to invade eastern Ukraine faster than the West could admit Ukraine into NATO to deter Russian aggression.” Today, Putin continues to consider the change in leadership Ukraine to be illegitimate and yet another tool of NATO expansion aimed at hemming in Russia. “This is not the army, per se, this is a foreign proxy, in this case a foreign NATO legion, which, of course, doesn’t pursue the objective of national interests of Ukraine,” Putin said at the end of January. “They have entirely different goals, and they are tied with the achievement of the geopolitical goals of containing Russia.". Despite a previous ceasefire agreed between Russia, Ukraine, and the separatists in September, Russian support for the rebels continued to flow into the country. Russian troops also have been reported fighting in the front lines, helping the separatists to roll back the Ukrainian army in key battles such as at the one fought recently at the Donetsk Airport. This Russian support has helped to ensure that Ukraine remains divided and in a perpetual state of instability and even conflict — thereby preventing any complete turn by Kiev towards NATO and the EU.
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Post by Admin on Feb 17, 2015 22:18:14 GMT
Fierce fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists continues to rage on the outskirts of the key town of Debaltseve but Kiev's forces are holding their positions, a military spokesman said today. Earlier, Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed "concrete steps" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to allow independent monitors to observe in the east of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he hopes Ukrainian government won't stop Ukrainians surrounded in Debaltseve from giving up their weapons, and that Moscow-backed rebels will give them safe passage out. The Reuters news agency report that Mr Putin made the remarks on his current trip to Hungary. The UN Security Council has adopted a Russian-drafted resolution endorsing the EU-brokered Ukraine peace plan and has called on all parties to implement it. The council reaffirmed "its full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine" and expressed its "grave concern at the tragic events and violence in eastern regions of Ukraine." The resolution was endorsed shortly after the council issued a statement calling for all sides involved in bitter fighting in Ukraine to end the violence. A senior rebel commander has claimed that his pro-Russian separatists have gained control of "80 percent" of the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, which has been at the heart of fighting despite an apparent ceasefire. In a briefing, Eduard Basurin said: The army of the Donetsk People's Republic controls more than 80 percent of Debaltseve and continues to push out the Ukrainian army – EDUARD BASURIN The Ukraine defence ministry had previously acknowledged that parts of the town had been taken over by "bandits" and they had captured some government troops in the area. A pro-Russian rebel rests in a lull in the battle surrounding the key city of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine, in this Reuters image. The city sits astride a vital railway hub which allows whoever is in control of the city access to much of the rail network in the east of the country. After the fall of Donetsk airport, it has rapidly become a 'trophy target' for both sides in the conflict.
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