Hollande Warns of War Scenario As Merkel Leads Ukraine Peace Drive
Local Editor
French President Francois Hollande said the peace initiative he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have come up with is probably the last ditch attempt to end the war in Ukraine.
"I think this is one of the last chances, that's why we took this initiative," Hollande said.
"If we don't find not just a compromise but a lasting peace agreement, we know perfectly well what the scenario will be. It has a name, it's called war," he added.
Hollande was speaking to journalists in the city of Tulle in central France.
Earlier on Saturday, Angela Merkel said at the Munich Security Conference she believed the "Ukrainian crisis cannot be resolved militarily."
This comes as Merkel meets US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and US Vice-President Joe Biden also in the mix.
The focus as leaders attend the Munich Security Conference is on a new blueprint agreed in overnight talks in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin, Merkel and French leader Francois Hollande.
Time is pressing to find a solution to the crisis before it turns into a major East-West confrontation, as recent gains by the Russian-backed and increasingly well-armed rebels drive calls for the West to supply weapons to Kiev.
Germany flat out opposes that option for fear it will only make matters worse, bringing about a dangerous proxy war, but the idea has many supporters in Washington.
No details were released on the Moscow talks Friday, but the new plan is likely to be based on the failed September Minsk ceasefire and peace accords which the West says Moscow never lived up to.
"Work is under way to prepare the text of a possible joint document to implement the Minsk agreements," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, describing the Moscow talks as "substantial and constructive."
Putin, Merkel and Hollande, who made no public comment after the meeting, are to discuss the plan again with Poroshenko by telephone on Sunday.
Ahead of the Moscow talks, Merkel played down expectations of any early breakthrough but insisted: "We have to put an end to this bloodbath and implement the Minsk agreements."
For his part, Hollande cautioned that time was short for a diplomatic solution, with the conflict becoming more dangerous the longer it goes on.
Merkel and Hollande first flew to Kiev on Thursday for discussions with Poroshenko, and Kerry also visited the Ukrainian capital.
On Friday in Brussels, Biden said Ukraine was battling for its very survival.
"We, the US and Europe as a whole, have to stand with Ukraine at this moment," Biden said. "Russia cannot be allowed to redraw the map of Europe," he added, calling on Putin to live up to his stated desire for peace.
The West and Kiev accuse Russia of sending troops and sophisticated weapons across the border to help the rebels but Moscow rejects the charge and says it is not a party to the conflict.
The German press broadly welcomed the latest initiative Saturday, saying time was running out to avoid a disaster for Europe which has known more than its fair share of war.
"For Germany and for the rest of Europe, this war has brought a bitter lesson: The peaceful order in Europe has reached its limits," said Munich daily the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
