Ukraine to Observe One-Day Truce Amid Plan for New Peace Talks
Ukraine will observe a day of truce
in the east, which may set the stage for a new round of peace
talks with pro-Russian separatists this week.
Ukraine will hold a “day of silence” today after a deal
with representatives from Russia, rebels and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Talks in the Belarusian
capital Minsk are possible later this week, the Tass news
service reported, citing representatives of separatists and
unidentified officials in Kyiv.
The latest peace effort follows a truce approved in
September in Minsk that’s been broken almost daily. Past cease-fire agreements between Ukraine and rebels have failed to end
hostilities that have triggered the worst standoff between
Russia and the U.S. and the European Union since the Cold War.
Ukraine’s allies blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for
instigating the crisis. Russia denies involvement.
“I can only hope that all participants are aware of their
responsibility and that they make a contribution toward
implementing the Minsk accord,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Tbilisi yesterday. Establishing a
buffer zone on the border between Russia and Ukraine would
“make clear that the Minsk accord isn’t history, but rather
that we’re working on its implementation.”
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said yesterday
one government soldier had been killed and nine wounded in the
previous 24 hours in clashes with the separatists. “A few
thousand” Russian troops are fighting government forces in
eastern Ukraine, Lysenko said.
Doing ‘Everything’
In Moscow, Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yuri Ushakov said
that Russia is doing “everything” to ensure the Ukrainian
talks are held this week. Putin said during a Dec. 6 meeting
with French President Francois Hollande in Moscow that Russia
supports Ukraine’s territorial unity and remains hopeful that a
cease-fire will be reached soon.
Denis Pushilin, permanent representative for truce talks
from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, also said he
sees Minsk talks this week. He said he was waiting for the
Ukrainian side to confirm the agenda, according to the state
news service RIA Novosti.
More than 4,300 people have died in the Ukrainian conflict,
according to a United Nations estimate.
Diplomacy aimed at ending the crisis is “once again very
intensive,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an
interview with ZDF television yesterday.
“At the same time, the fact remains that Russia has
violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity and that has to be said
clearly again,” she said.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Volodymyr Verbyany in Kyiv at
vverbyany1@bloomberg.net;
Helena Bedwell in Tbilisi at
hbedwell@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Balazs Penz at
bpenz@bloomberg.net
Paul Abelsky, Andrew Langley