Ukrainian officer on trial in Russian Federation says she was kidnapped
According to the United Nations reports, approximately 8,000 people including Ukrainian soldiers, civilians and members of the armed groups have been killed, while more than 17,800 sustained injuries since the crisis began in eastern Ukraine in mid-April 2014.
Ukraine’s pro-Western leadership and the Moscow-allied insurgents still remain far apart over rebel plans to soon stage their own local elections that Kyiv has branded as “fake”. “There is still hope that this won’t happen”.
“If the elections take place in Donbas without them being under Ukrainian law, then I think that a very important red line is crossed”, he said.
Less than a day after US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin butted heads over Putin’s actions in eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko took the stand at the United Nations General Assembly to castigate the Russian leader for staging an uprising against his authority.
According to the president, Ukraine’s contribution “to the maintenance of global peace and security provides us with moral grounds to count on the same assistance from the Organization [the UN].” . “Cool story, but really hard to believe”.
“How can you urge an anti-terrorist coalition if you inspire terrorism right inside your door?” he said.
In March 2014, Russian Federation shut down any media outlet that questioned or criticized Putin’s moves in Ukraine while journalists resigned over censorship.
Moscow has said it would like the fulfilment of a few terms agreed in February by the same four leaders meeting Friday in Paris pushed back into 2016. The 12-point deal calls for military disengagement and steps to resolve the contested status of the rebel-controlled regions.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, referring to the rebel-held regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, said he was under no illusions.
A separatist representative to east Ukraine peace talks said on Wednesday that an agreement signed with Kyiv this week to withdraw more weapons could mean an end to the war with the Ukrainian government, separatist website DAN reported.
Moscow denies the charges and calls all Russian fighters captured in the Ukrainian war zone either volunteers of off-duty servicemen.
Putin’s proposal to create a coalition against terrorism in which the Muslim countries will “play a key role”, has become an indirect opposition to the U.S. policy in Syria (the Americans continue to put their faith in the so-called moderate opposition there – barely visible in the political field and not discernible on the battlefields with the Assad regime).
“In the long-term, the West must help Ukraine’s arms industry modernize, which can be modeled on the successful efforts undertaken in Poland and other Central European states”, Karatnycky said.