Europe, Russia fail to strike accord on Ukraine
MOSCOW: European and Russian leaders failed yesterday to reach an agreement on ending the carnage in Ukraine in more than five hours of talks as US officials debated new steps to pressure Russia, including military deployments in countries such as Poland and the Baltic states.
The talks, held by Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, took place at the Kremlin in a high-stakes effort to stave off a deeper confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine. Little of substance emerged and Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande left Moscow, although talks are to continue by phone today.
“There’s been no breakthrough; Ukraine can’t meet Putin’s demands,” Joerg Forbrig, a senior programme director at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, said. “Military aid for Ukraine is becoming more likely after the failure of these talks and the likelihood that the rebels will now go on the offensive.”
Hanging over the negotiations is the prospect of deeper sanctions on Russia, an economic collapse in Ukraine and the risk that the conflict descends into a proxy war.
In Washington, US officials said that in addition to possible steps that have surfaced previously — more economic aid to Ukraine, non-lethal military aid and defensive weapons — there is a discussion of adding air, missile defence, ground combat and intelligence deployments in eastern Europe and possibly Scandinavia.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss deliberations inside Nato, said the debate parallels the one about weapons to Ukraine: would such moves help deter Russia or prompt Mr Putin to escalate threats and military manoeuvres?
In Moscow early yesterday, Russian officials sought to put a positive spin on the inconclusive talks, suggesting that they could still produce an accord.
“Based on proposals from Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande, the work will continue to prepare a joint document for implementation of the Minsk agreements,” a Putin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said, referring to the peace deal reached in the Belorussian capital Minsk, which has collapsed amid an upsurge in fighting.