Leaders in Minsk for peace talks
Ceasefire key goal amid spike in fighting
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine negotiated into the early hours Thursday to try to find a way to halt the fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 5,300 people.
The talks on ending the conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels came amid intense anxiety over the sharp spike in fighting in recent weeks, as Europe nervously awaits word on whether Washington will send lethal aid to Ukraine and as Russia’s economy deteriorates under sanctions imposed by the West.
In a diplomatic blitz that began last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande visited Kyiv and Moscow to speak to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for the talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signalled some progress, saying late Wednesday that the talks were “active, better than super.” It was unclear when a decision might be announced though negotiators were remaining until a deal was thrashed out.
A top rebel official, Andrei Purgin, told Russian television that it might take a day or more for hostilities to end even if a ceasefire is called.
At a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said there was “notable progress” in the peace process, but gave no details.
He said the most important goal of the talks would be to implement a ceasefire, but warned that Ukraine only could fully re-establish its control over the border with Russia if it offers a degree of autonomy to the east and lifts its economic blockade.
“To give away the Russian part of the border also would be to cut them (the rebels) off even from humanitarian help and allow them to be surrounded,” Lavrov said.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the aim of the talks is to win an accord that works on the ground, “not just one on paper.”
In the rebel-held city of Donetsk, rebel officials said Wednesday five people were killed and nine wounded in a shelling attack on a bus station; an Associated Press reporter saw one body. Officials in Kyiv said 19 troops also were killed and 78 wounded in fighting in Debaltseve, a hotly contested transport hub in eastern Ukraine.
Poroshenko posted a statement saying he had made an impromptu visit early Wednesday to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, where Kyiv says 16 people were killed and 48 wounded in a rocket strike a day earlier. The city is 50 kilometres from the nearest front line.