http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-02/eu-powers-join-russia-ukraine-truce-push-as-deaths-rise.html
France and Germany raised pressure on President Vladimir Putin to push pro-Russian separatists to reach an agreement with Ukraine, as they stepped up diplomacy aimed at reinstating a cease-fire within 48 hours.
President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel called Putin today and “stressed the importance” of seeking a truce between Ukraine and the separatists and defining its conditions, Hollande’s office said in a statement. EU Presidency
Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, whose country holds the rotating, six-month presidency of the European Union, will visit Kiev and Moscow next week, Italy’s ambassador to Russia told a briefing in the Russian capital.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to reporters in Moscow today, said that “our Western colleagues” must now adopt “the key role” in persuading the Kiev authorities to heed the appeal for a truce.
“This refers to the meeting as soon as possible of the contact group to agree on a bilateral basis a durable, lasting cease-fire, agreed between the two parties and not on a unilateral basis,” he said.
With the EU and the U.S. considering expanding sanctions against Russia, Poroshenko ended the truce on July 1, blaming pro-Russian insurgents for more than 100 violations in 10 days. The expiration of the cease-fire renews a conflict that has already claimed hundreds of lives. Ukraine and its U.S. and European allies say the separatists in the mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are backed by Putin’s government, which Russia denies.
France and Germany raised pressure on President Vladimir Putin to push pro-Russian separatists to reach an agreement with Ukraine, as they stepped up diplomacy aimed at reinstating a cease-fire within 48 hours.
President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel called Putin today and “stressed the importance” of seeking a truce between Ukraine and the separatists and defining its conditions, Hollande’s office said in a statement. EU Presidency
Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, whose country holds the rotating, six-month presidency of the European Union, will visit Kiev and Moscow next week, Italy’s ambassador to Russia told a briefing in the Russian capital.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to reporters in Moscow today, said that “our Western colleagues” must now adopt “the key role” in persuading the Kiev authorities to heed the appeal for a truce.
“This refers to the meeting as soon as possible of the contact group to agree on a bilateral basis a durable, lasting cease-fire, agreed between the two parties and not on a unilateral basis,” he said.
With the EU and the U.S. considering expanding sanctions against Russia, Poroshenko ended the truce on July 1, blaming pro-Russian insurgents for more than 100 violations in 10 days. The expiration of the cease-fire renews a conflict that has already claimed hundreds of lives. Ukraine and its U.S. and European allies say the separatists in the mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are backed by Putin’s government, which Russia denies.
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