Putin and Poroshenko greeted each other with a handshake as they met in the Belarusian capital at the start of talks on the Ukrainian crisis.
In the opening statement, Russia's president said that Moscow is interested in not only maintaining its cooperation with Ukraine, but even expanding it.
However, Putin expressed doubt that the two countries will be able to achieve this goal in case of Kiev’s association with the European Union gets enacted. Moscow will be forced to implement countermeasures if this happens, he added.
“We do not want to discriminate against anybody,” he said. “We are simply going to implement a standard trade regime regarding Ukraine – the same, which is used in relations between Russia and the EU.”
Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko stated the goal of his visit is to do everything possible to stop bloodshed in the country's restive east and begin process of finding a political compromise. The effective means for that is establishing good border controls, he noted.
Poroshenko also called on the meeting to accept his peace plan for Donbass, a historical name for Ukraine’s eastern provinces.
“I am convinced this plan remains relevant today and would be an effective means to stop the bloodshed and to start rebuilding Donbass,” he said, pledging to take the interests of the people living in the region into account.
In his turn, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to provide joint humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
"A break for a truce is essential," Nazarbayev said, adding that a ceasefire should be announced in Ukraine in order “for the children and women affected by the conflict to get help.”
Praising the initiative, Poroshenko said an international forum on the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine is set for autumn; both the EU and Customs Union are invited to take part........................http://rt.com/news/182776-putin-meeting-ukraine-poroshenko/
26/8/14
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Russia not to hold talks with Ukraine on EU association deal if Kiev ratifies treaty
Joint conclusions of the EU-Russian Federation-Ukraine ministerial meeting on the effects of implementation of the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA
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Putin and Poroshenko extend 'difficult' Ukraine talks one-on-one....
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday on the need to "de-escalate" the conflict in eastern Ukraine but fundamental differences remain, the Belarussian president who hosted the talks said.
After about six hours of negotiations with their Belarussian and Kazakhstan counterparts and top European Union officials, presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine began a one-on-one meeting, officials on both sides said.
The talks were aimed at defusing a separatist war that has heightened tensions between Russia and NATO and prompted the United States and EU to slap sanctions on Russia, drawing retaliation from Moscow. A U.N. report obtained by Reuters said at least 2,200 people have died in the conflict.
"We all wanted a breakthrough," President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus told reporters after the multi-lateral part of the talks had finished.
"But the very fact of holding the meeting today is already a success, undoubtedly," he said. "The talks were difficult. The sides' positions differ, sometimes fundamentally... Everybody agreed on the need to de-escalate and free hostages."
In a televised statement at the start of the talks, Putin urged Poroshenko not to step up his offensive against the pro-Moscow rebels, and threatened to slap economic penalties on Kiev for signing a trade accord with the European Union.
Poroshenko replied by demanding a halt to arms shipments from Russia to the separatist fighters...................................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/26/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSKBN0GQ0RF20140826?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews