- Putin to attend G20 leaders’ summit, hold key meeting with Ukraine president next week
- Ukraine president says negotiations with Russia will not be easy
Australia has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the G20 leaders’ summit in November after Putin ordered Russian troops to withdraw to their permanent bases after military exercises in Rostov region near the border with Ukraine in a sign of some tension easing before a key meeting next week between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Milan.
The Kremlin reportedly said that Putin had met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“The minister had reported to the Supreme Commander about the completion of summer period of training on shooting ranges of the southern military district.”
“After the report, Putin ordered to launch the return of the troops to their permanent bases. In total, these are 17,600 military servicemen who were trained on the shooting ranges of Rostov region in summer.”
Citing the Defence Ministry, a Russian news agency said that the troops have already started to pull out.
The Kremlin has said Putin and Poroshenko may hold talks on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan on October 16 and 17.
Poroshenko said Saturday he would meet Putin while attending the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Milan, but added, “I don’t expect that these will be easy negotiations.”
Alexei Makarkin from the Center for Political Technologies think-tank told Echo Moskvy radio that the troop pullout is probably one of the compromises between Russia and Ukraine.
“I think it could be about lifting part of the Western sanctions against Russia as a response to these decisions,” he said.
The West has introduced a wide range of sanctions against Russian banks, energy companies and individuals for Moscow’s role in the Ukrainian conflict.
A month ago, NATO said Russia had several thousand combat troops and hundreds of tanks and armoured vehicles in eastern Ukraine supporting pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian army.
The alliance said at the end of last month it had observed a significant pullback of Russian conventional forces from inside Ukraine since an uneasy ceasefire began on September 5.
PUTIN TO ATTEND G20 LEADERS SUMMIT:
In the meanwhile, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed Sunday that Putin will attend the G20 leaders’ summit in November, after Ukraine’s president said he would meet Putin next week.
“I spoke with the Russian finance minister only yesterday… and he did confirm that President Putin will be coming to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane,” Hockey said.
Hockey said it was ” the view of US president, the chancellor of Germany and others that he (Putin) should be attending”.
There were question marks over Putin’s attendance due to the conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 3,300 people.
But there had been signs of a shift after Hockey said at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in September that member nations believed Russia’s attendance would help address the geo-political tensions.
The Milan talks will also include the PMs of Italy and Britain as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Opposition to Putin’s attendance at the G20 summit intensified earlier this year after a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July, killing all 298 onboard, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Kiev and the West have accused Moscow-backed separatists of shooting it down with a surface-to-air BUK missile supplied by Russia. Moscow denies the charge and has pointed the finger back at Kiev.