As Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are set to meet for another round of talks, German chancellor Merkel says she may fail in her last-ditch attempt to ease Ukraine crisis but says it is worth the effort
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France aim to meet in Belarus’s capital Minsk on Wednesday to discuss a peace plan for eastern Ukraine.
It comes after leaders of the four countries discussed the ongoing conflict by telephone on Sunday.
More than 5,300 people have been killed by fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia rebels since April 2014.
Western countries accuse Russia of arming the rebels and sending troops to Ukraine – claims Russia denies.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have been leading efforts to establish a new peace plan.
Merkel, Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an “extensive” telephone conference on Sunday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
The four parties discussed “a package of measures” to try to reach “a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,” Seibert said, adding that the leaders aimed to meet on Wednesday.
However, Putin said the planned meeting would only take place “if by that time we manage to agree on a number of points”.
Signatories of a previous ceasefire deal – Ukraine, Russia, rebel representatives and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – would also meet in Minsk on Wednesday, Seibert said.
That deal, which was signed in Minsk last September, failed to end the fighting and the rebels have since seized more ground.
GERMANY DEFENDS POSITION:
In the meanwhile, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has defended Germany’s opposition to supplying weapons to help Ukraine fight Russian-backed rebels, saying escalation was not the answer, despite the German chancellor’s warning that peace talks could fail to end the conflict.
“I don’t believe escalation would help… we should not go with the logic of confrontation,” the German foreign minister on Sunday told the Munich security conference, Europe’s largest defence gathering.
While the US has called for military backing for Kiev, Germany is adamant that the west should not deliver weapons.
Steinmeier rejected suggestions that Berlin was reluctant to act because of its second world war experiences. “I don’t believe our scepticism is born of cowardice or from our history,” he said.
US State Secretary John Kerry insisted there were “no divisions, no splits” between the EU and the US over policy towards the crisis. He hinted, however, that the US may go further with military support for Kiev. “But the longer it takes . . . the more we will be forced to raise the costs on Russia and its proxies.”
Kerry added that “no matter what” European allies decided “we will stand together in support of Ukraine in defence of the common understanding that international borders must not, cannot, be changed by force in Europe or anywhere else.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday told the Munich meeting, “This crisis cannot be solved by military means”, while US vice-president Joe Biden hinted that Washington may be ready to increase its assistance, beyond the non-lethal equipment already supplied, saying, “I also believe the Ukrainian people have a right to defend themselves.”
Merkel admitted she may fail in her last-ditch attempt to ease the Ukraine crisis but said it was worth the effort for the sake of the people of Ukraine and the defence of peace and stability in Europe.
Speaking amid reports of fresh fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, Merkel said it was “uncertain” whether her push, backed by French president François Hollande, would be “crowned with success”.
As a tired-looking chancellor delivered her sober message in Munich she found herself embroiled in a growing debate over possible western arms deliveries to Kiev.
Hawkish Republican senator Lindsey Graham was much more direct, saying Ms Merkel was making “a big mistake. She can’t see how arming people who are willing to fight and die for their freedom makes things better.”
The exchanges in Munich came just hours after talks in Moscow in which Merkel and Hollande pressed Russian president Vladimir Putin to implement a ceasefire based on the September Minsk Agreement.
Merkel said it was “important to define substantive steps which bring the Minsk agreement to life.”
