I/II. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27956555
21 June 2014 Last updated at 20:44 Ukraine crisis: Putin gives ceasefire qualified backing Pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk have pledged an oath of allegiance to their self-proclaimed republic Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he supports a peace plan tabled by Ukraine - as long as it includes "practical action" to start talks. He said Kiev must negotiate and make compromises with pro-Russian rebels for the plan to be "viable and realistic". Mr Putin also said a week-long truce - declared by President Petro Poroshenko - must not be used as an "ultimatum". Clashes have continued in eastern Ukraine, with rebel attacks injuring six border guards. The separatist fighters have dismissed the truce, accusing the Ukrainian army of violating their own ceasefire. Meanwhile, the US has imposed sanctions - including asset freezes - against seven pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine. Western leaders have threatened additional sanctions against Russia, which they accuse of stoking tension in Ukraine. Moscow denies the claim. Buffer zone A statement issued by the Kremlin on Saturday evening said that the Russian leader supported Mr Poroshenko's ceasefire, "as well as his stated intentions to take a number of concrete steps to achieve a peaceful settlement". According to the statement, Mr Putin also insisted that the plan would only work if it led to "meaningful negotiations and political compromise between the opposing sides in eastern Ukraine". Ukrainian soldiers have been accused of violating their own ceasefire Thousands of people have been fleeing the fighting in eastern Ukraine Kiev accuses Moscow of supplying rebels with heavy weaponry, including tanks. Russia denies the claim Ukrainian forces have struggled to regain control of buildings and territory that have been seized by the armed separatists in eastern regions bordering Russia. On Friday night, the separatists attacked three Ukrainian border posts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kiev said. The rebels shelled the posts with rocket and mortar fire, injuring six border guards. The gunmen also attacked Ukrainian forces outside the Kramatorsk airfield, in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces returned fire, and all the attacks were repelled, Kiev said. However, Ukraine's border guard service said its personnel at the Izvaryne post, Luhansk region, were forced to retreat into Russian territory. A number of casualties were reported among the separatists. Mr Poroshenko on Friday declared the ceasefire to give rebels time to disarm. It became effective from 22:00 local time (19:00 GMT). Daniel Sandford reports: ''President Poroshenko announced that his forces, which had been gaining ground, will now cease fire for a week'' The president also unveiled proposals for the peace plan involving decentralising power, holding early elections, and creating a 10km (six-mile) buffer zone on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Rebel leaders have said they will not disarm until government troops have left the east. Pavel Gubarev, self-styled governor of the "Donetsk People's Republic", said there was no ceasefire near Slovyansk, a bastion of separatist forces. "There is shooting all the time, and this ceasefire that Poroshenko is talking about is just fake. The Ukrainian forces are either not under his control, or he is just a liar.'' The Kremlin had earlier dismissed the truce, saying it was "not an invitation to peace and negotiations but an ultimatum". 'Scalpel sanctions' The US and European Union leaders previously imposed sanctions after Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March. On Friday, the US Treasury Department said it had blacklisted seven rebel leaders, including self-proclaimed mayors, governors and commanders in chief of cities under siege by Ukrainian forces. Their assets in the US will be frozen and US firms will be banned from dealing with them. US officials also said "scalpel" sanctions against Russia's defence, finance and high-tech industries were being considered. Washington says Russia is providing the separatists with military equipment, including tanks, and is building up troops on its border with Ukraine. Moscow denies the claims. II/. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/world/europe/ukraine.html?_r=0 Conflicting Gestures From Putin to Ukraine Leaders By NEIL MacFARQUHAR <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/neil_macfarquhar/index.html>JUNE 21, 2014 MOSCOW -- President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia proffered both a carrot and a stick to Ukraine on Saturday, issuing a qualified acceptance of a peace plan proposed by the Ukrainian leadership to quell a separatist uprising in the southeast, but simultaneously putting troops across central Russia on combat alert and mounting surprise military drills. A statement posted late Saturday on the Kremlin's website was Mr. Putin's most direct call to date for a cease-fire. Moscow has previously insisted that it does not hold sufficient sway over the pro-Russian separatists to influence their position. "The president of Russia calls on all parties to the conflict to cease hostilities and sit down at the negotiating table," the statement said. The statement said Mr. Putin supported the declaration of a unilateral cease-fire <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/europe/ukraine.html> by President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine on Friday, "as well as his intent to take a number of specific measures to reach a peaceful settlement." But it said the plan would be neither "viable nor realistic" without practical steps to begin negotiating with the separatists, who have declared autonomy in two southeastern regions. Mr. Putin also described as "unacceptable" the firing of Ukrainian shells into a Russian border post on Friday night, soon after the cease-fire was declared, "causing material damage and threatening the life and health of Russian citizens." The loudest response to that episode came hours before Mr. Putin's statement, when the Russian defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, announced that about 65,000 troops across central Russia would begin a week of combat drills. In Ukraine, Mr. Poroshenko addressed the nation on Saturday, laying out the details of his 15-point peace plan and speaking as if the military fight was over. The 12-minute speech emphasized the need for negotiations, addressing the main Russian criticism. "I am ready for dialogue with those who made a mistake, having mistakenly supported the position of separatism," he said, adding "except, of course, those who are complicit in terrorist actions, murders and torture." He left at least a partial window for talks with some of the separatists who have not taken up arms. But the separatist political leaders have said they would only talk to Kiev via intermediaries. So the crux of the problem remains that the two sides that most need to hammer out a compromise refuse to meet. It appeared unlikely that the differences over who would participate could be bridged quickly. Russia's dual-track approach reflected what analysts have been saying for weeks is Russia's main goal: to put pressure on the Ukrainian government to grant significant autonomy to the southeast without prompting a third round of Western sanctions. Western leaders are set to consult on further sanctions this week. But it also reflected the split within the Russian government. The military and nationalists pushed Mr. Putin to annex the autonomous Ukrainian region of Crimea in March and generally want Russia to reclaim its role as a global power and an antidote to the West. More liberal economists, business moguls and diplomats, recognizing that Russia is now integrated into the world economy in a way it never was during the Soviet era, want to prevent even worse fallout than that caused by Crimea's annexation. "I think that they will keep agreeing to cease-fires, keep calling on the militants to stop the fighting and keep supplying the militants with arms until they achieve a stable equilibrium on their terms," said Clifford Kupchan, a Washington-based Russia analyst at the Eurasia Group. Analysts believe that Russia is looking, eventually, for a compact. But it wants sufficient influence in southeastern Ukraine to destabilize the Kiev government or to make sure that it does not get too close to the European Union or contemplate joining NATO. Analysts point out that there is insufficient trust on either side to negotiate, and that the fighting might slip out of the leaders' control. "Each side is escalating, hoping the other side will blink, but in the process it is getting harder and harder for any kind of meaningful agreement to be reached," said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russia's security forces at New York University. Mr. Putin emphasized the need for such an agreement in his announcement. "The opportunity that opens up with the end of hostilities should be used to start constructive negotiations and to reach a political compromise between the parties to the conflict in southeast Ukraine," his statement said. In May, Mr. Putin had suggested that the rebels not hold a referendum on separating from Ukraine, but they ignored his call. Mr. Poroshenko declared the cease-fire as he introduced a 15-point peace plan that would establish a six-mile demilitarized zone along the Ukrainian-Russian border and provide an escape corridor for Russian and Ukrainian mercenaries who the Ukrainian government has said are involved in the fighting. It suggested the regions would be granted autonomy, a key Russian demand, although critics said it did not go far enough. Military and political leaders of the self-declared people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine on Saturday rejected laying down their arms. Alexander Borodai, the Russian prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, said "there is no cease-fire" and called for peacekeepers from Russia to enter the country to prevent "a humanitarian catastrophe." "How can I comment on a plan that is only a fantasy?" Mr. Borodai said when asked if he was aware of the peace plan. Andrew Roth contributed reporting from Donetsk, Ukraine. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
