The much anticipated Moscow talks, shrouded in secrecy, have raised hopes of a possible breakthrough in resolving the bloody civil conflict that is tearing Ukraine apart.
The lengthy negotiations on Friday between the leaders of Russia, Germany and France on working out a solution to the protracted crisis in Ukraine have been called “constructive” by all the parties, and a possible document is in the works to implement the Minsk agreements. They are seen as a real way out if both warring parties in Ukraine – Kiev and the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions – stick to it.
08 February 2015
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany held a joint telephone call this morning, the German government says. The call follows Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande’s visit to Moscow, where they attempted to hammer out a peace plan with Vladimir Putin.
Work to resolve the crisis will continue on Monday, a government spokesperson said as reported by Reuters. Wednesday may see a meeting in the Belarus capital of Minsk between the countries in the ‘Normandy Four’ format.
The Franco-German strategy to resolve the conflict in southeastern Ukraine is based on the Minsk agreements, but it also proposes new details on how to implement the peace treaty, including the timing of certain steps, Reuters quoted a senior State Department official as saying. The official spoke after he met with leaders from Germany and Ukraine.
“What is different is there is a bit more detail around how it will be implemented and more of a roadmap on timing, but it is broadly consistent with Minsk,” the official said.
He denied there is any disagreement between US and Europe over supplying Kiev with more weapons.
07 February 2015
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Saturday in Munich. The ministers discussed Friday’s meeting between Russian, German and French leaders in Moscow, which was held with the intention of finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
Sergey Lavrov with #German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier/Встреча С.Лаврова с главой МИД Германии #MSC2015@RusBotschaftpic.twitter.com/9pjgNMotvZ
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) February 7, 2015
French President Francois Hollande revealed part of the joint document under negotiation between Berlin, Moscow, Paris and Kiev. Speaking on France 2 TV he said it will feature a 50- to 70-kilometer demilitarized zone on each side of the current line dividing militia-held and Kiev-controlled territories.
READ MORE: French President Hollande calls for broader autonomy for E.Ukraine
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, the German chancellor spoke bluntly against any plans to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, something that Washington is reportedly pondering.
“I cannot imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily,” Angela Merkel said, stressing that she would like to secure peace in Europe with Russia, not against it.
Progress in solving Ukrainian crisis impossible to achieve through arms supplies - Merkel http://t.co/ULTe0it5p0pic.twitter.com/6bgYJnGoRx
— RT (@RT_com) February 7, 2015
Hollande described the peace talks he and Merkel held with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine this week as “one of the last chances” for peace.
"If we don't find not just a compromise but a lasting peace agreement, we know perfectly well what the scenario will be. It has a name, it's called war," Hollande told journalists in the city of Tulle in central France, according to Reuters.
URGENT: If lasting #Ukraine peace not found 'scenario is war' - Hollande http://t.co/wof7mBM4A1pic.twitter.com/MDhE6Tkq2f
— RT (@RT_com) February 7, 2015
Lavrov: Russia set to promote peace process in Ukraine
“Ukraine is what the European Union ought to be — a participatory democracy,” said the founder of the Open Society Foundations.
“There is a new Ukraine. This is a civil society that became very much engaged in politics, it enjoys a practically unique participatory democracy, and the volunteer spirit born on Maidan,” Soros said, pointing out that Ukrainians are now “engaging in nation-building.”
The text of the joint document currently being worked on by French and German experts and their Russian counterparts will be ready by Sunday’s four-way phone negotiations, Interfax reported. The news agency’s European source said neither Kiev authorities, nor representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, are participating in the process.
“You’ve got to understand that this is a different format, not the one from the Minsk agreement,” the source told Interfax.
Europe intends to maintain security together with Russia, not against it, said the German chancellor at the Munich Security Conference. It remains unclear whether the talks in Moscow will bring positive results, but they have been meaningful, Angela Merkel assured.
"Ukrainian crisis cannot be resolved militarily," Merkel said.
Germany is dedicated to the concept of ‘big Europe’ from Lisbon to Vladivostok, said the German chancellor, stressing that “security and cooperation in Europe are possible through dialogue.”
Kiev authorities won’t cut diplomatic relations with Russia, said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin in an interview with the ‘Weekly Mirror’ media outlet.
“In case of a diplomatic break (with Russia) all negotiations (with Moscow) will be conducted solely through mediators. But I doubt that such a situation is the best,” Klimkin said.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande presented the Ukraine peace initiative on behalf of the entire European Union.
“It is important that France and Germany have come up not on the national level, but as representatives of the European Union, backed by Poland and other countries,” Itar-TASS cited Schulz as saying. “This initiative is in the name of Europe,” he said.
.@EP_President@MartinSchulz welcomes the US Vice President @JoeBiden at the #EPpic.twitter.com/IgB4X0xLuF
— EP PressService (@EuroParlPress) February 6, 2015
NATO's top military commander in Europe, US Air Force General Philip Breedlove told reporters at the Munich Security Conference that proposals put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine were “completely unacceptable.” General Breedlove hasn’t ruled out a “military option” for Ukraine.
“I don't think we should preclude out of hand the possibility of the military option,” Breedlove said, specifying, though that he was referring to weapons supplies and other capabilities, not deploying troops in eastern Ukraine. “There is no conversation about boots on the ground,” he said, as cited by Reuters.
NATO's Breedlove: Putin's proposals for E.#Ukraine 'completely unacceptable' http://t.co/ULTe0ibu0qpic.twitter.com/vGmVqy6TsW
— RT (@RT_com) February 7, 2015
The Franco-German peace proposal could work, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday.
Poroshenko, who is attending the Munich Security Conference, answered ‘Yes’ when Reuters asked him if the initiative presented by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday could work.
EU demonstrates unity and solidarity towards Ukraine. This is vital for us. pic.twitter.com/vO6VadtGSY
— Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) February 5, 2015
Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the Russian parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee, believes the talks in Moscow give Ukraine a “chance for peace.”
“(President) Poroshenko is only capable of shelling. The US continues to instigate war. The Merkel-Hollande-Putin talks give peace a chance,” Pushkov said.
Vasily Likhachev, member of the Russian parliament’s committee on CIS Affairs, said confrontation between Russia and Germany and France over the Ukraine crisis has been replaced with a positive move. He added that negotiations in Moscow are a “serious political step” forward.
While Germany seems to be enthusiastic about the peace talks, the US and UK are likely to create obstacles to the conflict’s resolution, political analyst Dan Glazebrook told RT.
“Since the last February’s coup (in Ukraine) the role of the US and Britain has consistently been trying to sabotage and scoffer any kind of peace agreement that came on the table,” Glazebrook said.
Washington is skeptical about the results of the meeting.
“I’m not going to say it’s a positive sign that they (Russia) are listening,” said US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. “They’ve been listening. They just haven’t been acting,” she added, pointing out that the proposals voiced by Merkel and Hollande haven’t been coming from Washington.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has come under fierce criticism at home for not participating in talks in Moscow and Kiev with the French president and German chancellor.
“The UK is a major NATO member, it is a major EU member, it is a member of the UN Security Council, and it is unfortunate that the weight that the British prime minister could bring to efforts to resolve this crisis appear to be absent,” General Sir Richard Shirreff told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
READ MORE: Cameron under fire in UK for not joining Merkel & Hollande in Moscow, Kiev talks
"The discussions were substantial and constructive," a French presidential source told Reuters, adding that the parties are working on the proposals made by President Putin and President Poroshenko. German and French officials have remained in Moscow preparing for four-way phone talks on Sunday.
Following the talks in Moscow, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said: “On the basis of a proposal by Germany's chancellor and France's president, a possible joint document to implement the Minsk agreement will now be worked on."
Martin Sieff, columnist for the Post-Examiner online newspaper, told RT: “There will be significant progress made towards the implementation of a ceasefire.”
“Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande have belatedly recognized the seriousness of what is happening in Ukraine. They do want to move away from the brink, they do want to restrain the Kiev government, they are strongly in favor of a negotiated settlement. The problems will be with Washington and Kiev,” said Sieff.
The first official comments on the meeting came from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who called the talks “constructive, informative and substantive.”
READ MORE: Moscow talks on Ukraine ‘constructive’, possible document ‘in progress’
Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande have agreed to hold a joint phone conversation to compare preliminary results on Sunday in the so-called ‘Normandy Four’ format, which also includes Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.