Ukraine Truce Talks Due To Start
Talks on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine are set to take place, with officials from Kyiv and the pro-Russian rebels along with envoys from Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) due to meet in Minsk.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko expressed “careful optimism” that a deal could be struck.
The rebels said they could order a truce if agreement can be reached on a political settlement for the mostly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The truce talks come as the EU and the United States are expected to announce more sanctions against Russia over its agression in Ukraine, although implementation could be delayed depending on how the talks in Minsk proceed.
At the NATO summit on September 5, leaders also were expected to announce the creation of a rapid-reaction force to ease fears of some Eastern European NATO members over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
On September 4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready for practical steps to de-escalate the crisis and urged Kyiv and the rebels to accept a cease-fire proposal by President Vladimir Putin.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed caution, saying previous Russian initiatives had proved to be “smokescreens for continued destabilization of Ukraine.”
Rasmussen met Poroshenko at the NATO summit, where NATO leaders pledged support for Ukraine, but not weapons.
Rasmussen called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine after a NATO military officer said Moscow had “several thousand” combat troops and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles operating in Ukraine.
Russia denies interfering in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
NATO also announced the creation of four trust funds worth 15 million euros ($20 million) to help Ukraine defend itself.
Rasmussen said that the trust funds will support Kyiv in logistics, cyberdefense, the rehabilitation of wounded troops, as well as command, control, and communication.
According to AFP, Poroshenko said some NATO members would cooperate with Ukraine on “nonlethal and lethal military items.”
The White House said President Barack Obama and leaders of Germany, France, Britain, and Italy had agreed on the sidelines of the summit that Russia should face “increased costs” for its actions.
On the ground, pro-Russian rebels were reported to be advancing on Mariupol, a key city on the shores of the Sea of Azov in eastern Ukraine.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen along the road from the rebel-held Ukrainian town of Novoazovsk to Mariupol, where a rebel convoy of tanks and armored vehicles was reported.
In the past two weeks, the rebels have pushed back government forces in eastern Ukraine as well as opening a new front along the Sea of Azov.