Niles Williamson
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François
Hollande met for approximately five hours with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday in an attempt to hash out what has
been described as a last-ditch effort to resolve the ongoing crisis in
Ukraine.
The talks concluded Friday evening without any agreement, and the two
European leaders left Moscow late at night without making a press
statement. There were pledges of further discussions this weekend on a
ceasefire between Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists in
the country’s eastern Donbass region.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters after the meeting
that the leaders had agreed to continue working towards an agreement on
implementing the lapsed ceasefire plan signed in Minsk last September.
“At the moment joint work is under way on preparing the text of a
possible joint document on implementation of the Minsk agreements—a
document which would include proposals made by the president of Ukraine
and proposals formulated today and added by Russian President Putin,”
Peskov said.
Merkel, Hollande, Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are
expected to discuss the possible framework by phone on Sunday.
Prior to Friday’s meeting Merkel told reporters that the European
leaders were, “convinced there will be no military solution to the
conflict.” She also sought to lower expectations for the meeting’s
possible outcome, saying, “We know, however, that it remains completely
open whether we will be able to reach a cease-fire through these talks.”
The meeting between the European leaders and Putin took place amidst
threats by the US to directly arm the regime in Kiev that was installed
in a right-wing coup one year ago. Ukraine has suffered a series of
setbacks in the east and is facing a deepening economic crisis.
US Vice President Joe Biden and European Council President Donald
Tusk, the former Prime Minister of Poland, made a joint appearance in
Brussels on Friday ahead of the talks in Moscow, calling for unity
between the US and EU in maintaining an aggressive stance towards
Russia.
“Russia cannot be allowed to redraw the map of Europe,” Biden told
reporters. In fact, it is the United States and the European powers that
have utilized the coup in Ukraine as the basis for a vast
militarization of all of Eastern Europe, including the doubling of NATO combat forces
announced on Thursday. NATO will station six command and control units
in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia,
and Estonia.
Biden later cast aspersions on the trip by Merkel and Hollande to
Moscow, “President Putin continues to call for new peace plans as his
troops roll through the Ukrainian countryside, and he absolutely ignores
every agreement his country has signed in the past.”
Tusk told reporters, “The European Union and the United States need
to continue standing shoulder to shoulder, coordinating our efforts and
uphold the pressure on Russia for as long as necessary.” He also warned
against an agreement with Russia that would result in the partition of
Ukraine, “We cannot compromise on Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty
and territorial integrity.”
Ukrainian President Poroshenko announced on Ukrainian television
Friday that his government would only accept an agreement in line with
the cease-fire plan negotiated in Minsk in September of last year.
In addition to armored Humvees, drones, and radar equipment, the
Obama administration is also considering delivering small arms and
anti-armor missiles to aid in the bloody suppression of pro-Russian
separatists. Direct military aid to Ukraine could be seen as an act of
war by the US against Russia, provoking a Russian response and a
possible direct confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers.
Underlining the danger of the plan, NATO Commander General Phillip
Breedlove issued a warning on Thursday that such a move must take into
account a possible military reaction from Russia. It was reported
earlier this week that Breedlove and other key figures had recently
shifted their position in favor of providing Ukraine with weapons and
other military equipment, opening the way for a final decision by US
President Barack Obama this coming week.
There are indications of significant differences between Washington
and European powers over the arming of Ukraine. German Defense Minster
Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview with the Süddeustsche Zeitung
that providing defensive weapons to the Kiev regime would “be a fire
accelerant.” She warned that weapons deliveries might “give the Kremlin
the excuse to openly intervene in this conflict.”
Rather than military aid, Germany and other European powers have
indicated a preference for increasing economic sanctions against Russia
as a means of forcing it to back down. The EU is set to consider such
action next week.
These maneuvers take place amidst ongoing fighting in eastern
Ukraine. The Kiev regime has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks
after launching a renewed offensive in recent weeks, with the
separatists making territorial gains and pushing Ukrainian forces out of
the strategic Donetsk airport.
The separatists have made significant advances on the city of
Debaltseve, an important rail hub between Luhansk and Donetsk, where
several thousand Ukrainian government troops are entrenched. The
separatists have captured the village of Vuhlehirsk, which is
approximately six miles to the west of the city.
Consistent artillery shelling from both sides has destroyed much of
the town’s infrastructure, knocking out heat, running water and power. A
brief ceasefire was agreed to by both sides on Friday allowing for the
evacuation of the approximately 3,000 out of 25,000 residents who had
remained amidst the fighting.
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