EU FMs Agree on Ukraine Path to Cease-fire

Local Editor

Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed Wednesday on a series of steps for a resumption of the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government troops and pro-Russia rebels has taken more than 400 lives since April.

The steps include reopening talks no later than Saturday "with the goal of reaching an unconditional and mutually agreed sustainable cease-fire" to be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, they said in a declaration.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has increased since a much-violated 10-day cease-fire expired late Monday. Four Ukrainian troops were killed as government forces carried out more than 100 attacks on rebel positions, a military official said.

Russia supported the proposal to give Ukrainian border guards and OSCE representatives access to Russian territory to take part in controlling two border crossings once the cease-fire is in place, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the talks in Berlin.

Border posts have become a key issue because Ukraine and the United States say military equipment and reinforcements are flowing across the border from Russia. Moscow denies arming the rebels and describes Russian citizens fighting with them as volunteers.
Asked whether Russia has any influence over the rebels, Lavrov said: "We have possibilities to influence those who defend their families, their soil and their territory."

Lavrov stressed that Russia would not allow the cease-fire to be used to give the military time to regroup and bring in reinforcements, as the separatists accused the troops of doing during the previous cease-fire.

The ministers' declaration specifically states that the cease-fire negotiations will be handled by the so-called contact group, something Russia has insisted upon. The group, which already has held two rounds of peace talks, includes Ukrainians trusted by Russia, the Russian ambassador and separatist leaders.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that the group would meet before Saturday, calling it "a first and an important step." It was not clear where the meeting would take place.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, blamed the failure of the previous cease-fire on the rebels and said that "to have a sustainable cessation of violence we have to act together."

Donetsk is one of two eastern regions where separatists have declared independence from the government in Kiev. Ukrainian officials said pro-Russian rebels had been forced out of three villages.

Ukraine said it recaptured a key border post Tuesday at Dovzhanskiy, which rebels had mined. Another key border crossing at Izvaryne was closed Wednesday because of fighting.

At the small Sjevernyi border crossing to the north, Ukrainian border guards had abandoned their post, leaving three Russian border guards to process the several dozen Ukrainians who passed through Wednesday afternoon.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team