Frank-Walter Steinmeier: Refusing to talk with Russia ‘incredible mistake’. - We are only a few steps away from an open military confrontation

Refusing dialogue with Russia on events in Ukraine would be "an incredible mistake", Germany’s Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest daily newspaper, on Tuesday.
“The situation in eastern Ukraine, deteriorating in the last few days, and bloody clashes in Odessa show that we are only a few steps away from an open military confrontation,” Steinmeier said.

“Conflict around Ukraine has taken an acute form which seemed impossible in Europe before,” he said. “The danger of a new division of Europe is still real. We should seek all possible ways to prevent an open civil war in Ukraine.”

Steinmeier noted a key role for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in settling the conflict. “None of the EU countries wants military intervention in Ukraine,” he said. “The German government shares the same opinion.”
Steinmeier said the United States, Russia, the European Union and Ukraine should “sit at the negotiating table in Geneva once again”.

 We should talk to each other,” he said. “Refusing to hold a dialogue while tension in Ukraine is growing would be an incredible mistake.”

It was also a mistake of the latest four-party meeting in Geneva in April that there were no mechanisms to implement decisions reached between Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States.
“That is why we need a follow-up conference,” Steinmeier said.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/730592
6/5/14
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• Germany says Ukraine is close to war, widens travel warning...

BERLIN: Ukraine is close to war, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned in interviews published in four European newspapers Tuesday.

Dozens of people died in the Ukrainian city of Odessa last week when pro-Russian militants clashed with their opponents, and Kiev forces are fighting separatists who have seized control of towns in the east of the country.

• "The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation," Steinmeier told El Pais, Le Monde, La Repubblica and Gazeta Wyborcza. He added that the conflict had taken on an intensity "that a short time ago we would not have considered possible".

Steinmeier's ministry also warned Germans on Tuesday against travelling to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March, and reiterated an earlier advisory to avoid eastern areas.

• "It is urgently advised to avoid travelling to Crimea," the Foreign Ministry wrote on its website. "In the German government's view, Crimea belongs to Ukraine but in actuality it is controlled by Russia. Due to the current situation German citizens can no longer be guaranteed consular services."

The ministry added that it was advising against any traveling to eastern and southern Ukraine. It also urged German citizens to leave those regions and said journalists were particularly endangered.

"The situation in the east and south of Ukraine is extremely tense at the moment," it said. "There are an increased number of armed occupations of state buildings .... there have been incidents of foreigners being held.

In a television interview late on Monday, Steinmeier said he feared that neither Russia nor Ukraine could now control forces unleashed as fighting intensified around the pro-Russian stronghold of Slaviansk.

"I'm convinced we are struggling against a situation that has taken on a dynamic of its own. There are groups in eastern Ukraine that are not listening to either Kiev ... or Moscow."
 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2014/May-06/255536-germany-says-ukraine-is-close-to-war-widens-travel-warning.ashx#ixzz30vrTu0Hd
6/5/14