I/II. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29003116
31 August 2014 Last updated at 12:50 Putin 'urges talks on statehood for east Ukraine' Rebels have made advances in recent days, entering the port of Novoazovsk President Putin has called for talks to discuss "statehood" for eastern Ukraine, Russian media report. He said the issue needed to be discussed to ensure the interests of local people "are definitely upheld". His comments came after the EU gave Russia a one-week ultimatum to reverse course in Ukraine or face sanctions. Russia denies Western accusations that its forces illegally crossed into eastern Ukraine to support separatists there. "Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot at almost at point blank," he added, describing the rebels' actions as "the natural reaction of people who are defending their rights". He dismissed the EU's threat of further sanctions, accusing the EU of "backing a coup d'etat" in Ukraine. The West, Mr Putin said, should have foreseen Russia's reaction to the situation, adding it was impossible to predict how the crisis would end. Pro-Russian rebels have made gains against Ukrainian troops in recent days in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Also on Sunday, Russian media reported <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29002147> that 10 Russian paratroopers returned home in exchange for 63 captured Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia. Some 2,600 people have died in fighting since April. [image: Grey line] Analysis: Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow In his interview with Russian TV, Vladimir Putin called for "substantive talks" with Kiev on "statehood for south-east Ukraine". So, does Russia now want south-eastern Ukraine to split from Kiev and become independent? Is Moscow now wedded to the idea of breaking up of Ukraine? Recent reports of Russian military activity across the border would seem to back up this idea. But it may not be the case. Not yet, anyway. There is no doubt that Russia is determined to retain a degree of influence in Ukraine and to ensure, at the very least, that Ukraine never joins Nato. Moscow is equally determined to make sure the pro-Russian separatists avoid a military defeat. Promoting "statehood" in the east is one way of increasing the pressure on Kiev to stop its military operation and start talks with the pro-Moscow militants - and with Russia itself. If Kiev fails to do this, the Kremlin may well press for south-eastern Ukraine (or "Novorossiya" as Moscow increasingly refers to the region) to break away from Kiev. [image: Grey line] Thousands have fled the fighting in eastern Ukraine - these refugees have headed to Russia Pro-Ukrainian residents near the city of Mariupol held a protest on Saturday Ukrainian troops have lost ground to rebels in recent days The conflict in the east erupted in April following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula a month before. Speaking after a summit in Brussels, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the EU "stands ready to take further significant steps in light of the evolution of the situation on the ground", adding that the EU was working urgently on further restrictive measures. The EU and US have already imposed asset freezes and travel bans on many senior Russian officials and separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine. Western sanctions also restrict loans for Russian state banks, block defence-related technology exports and certain oil industry exports to Russia. Russia denies that its forces are backing the rebels, instead accusing Ukrainian forces of aggression and deliberately firing at civilians. Several European leaders at the summit condemned Russia's actions and expressed support for further sanctions if necessary. Angel Merkel says EU leaders are united in avoiding a military solution to the Ukrainian crisis But Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said the "jury is still out" on whether sanctions had worked, adding: "We need to find a ceasefire, a peace plan." Federica Mogherini, named on Saturday as the EU's future foreign policy chief, said there could be no military solution to the crisis and that while sanctions were being worked on, the diplomatic process would need to continue. Government forces have lost ground in recent fighting to pro-Russian rebels. Western and Ukrainian officials say this offensive has been substantially helped by Russian regular troops, opening a new front. Russia denies the accusation. [image: Grey line] War in eastern Ukraine: The human cost - At least 2,593 people killed since mid-April (not including 298 passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines MH17, shot down in the area) - UN report on 29 August - 951 civilians killed in Donetsk region alone, official regional authorities said - 20 August - In some particularly dangerous places, such as Luhansk region, victims are said to have been buried informally, making accurate counts difficult - Rebels (and some military sources) accuse the government of concealing true numbers - 155,800 people have fled elsewhere in Ukraine while at least 188,000 have gone to Russia II. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/eu-leaders-ukraine-sanctions-ultimatum-russia EU leaders deliver sanctions ultimatum to Russia over Ukraine Brussels agrees to take 'further significant steps' and impose fresh sanctions if Moscow does not back down in conflict Ian Traynor <http://www.theguardian.com/profile/iantraynor>, and Agence France-Presse in Brussels theguardian.com <http://www.theguardian.com/>, Sunday 31 August 2014 10.43 BST EU leaders deliver sanctions ultimatum to Russia over Ukraine Brussels agrees to take 'further significant steps' and impose fresh sanctions if Moscow does not back down in conflict Link to video: Europe must act quickly to stop bloodshed in Ukraine, says Van Rompuy <http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/aug/31/europe-ukraine-van-rompuy-russia-video> European Union <http://www.theguardian.com/world/eu> leaders have given Russia <http://www.theguardian.com/world/russia> a week to reverse course in Ukraine <http://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine> or face a new round of sanctions as Kiev warns it is on the brink of full-scale war with Moscow. Fears are growing that the confrontation on the EU's eastern borders could engulf the whole continent after Russia sent troops to back a new offensive by pro-Kremlin rebels in south-east Ukraine. The EU president, Herman Van Rompuy, said the 28 leaders meeting in Brussels had agreed to take "further significant steps" if Moscow did not back down. He said the European commission had been ordered to produce options for fresh sanctions within a week. "Everybody is fully aware that we have to act quickly given the evolution on the ground and the tragic loss of life of the last days," Van Rompuy told a news conference. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the new sanctions would build on existing measures against Russia. Senior diplomats confirmed the punitive measures were not so much new as a tightening of the restrictions imposed in July on the financial, energy, and defence sectors in Russia. "It's about closing loopholes," said a diplomat. They warned, however, that it could be weeks before any new sanctions were applied, perhaps as late as October. David Cameron said it was "totally unacceptable that there are Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil". Talking of a "deeply serious situation", the UK prime minister said: "If [Russia] carries on in this way, the relationship between Europe <http://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news> and Russia, Britain and Russia, America and Russia will be radically different in the future." In comments recorded on Friday but broadcast on Saturday, Vladimir Putin did not directly address sanctions but blamed the crisis in Ukraine on the west, accusing it of supporting a "coup" against pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych in February. "They should have known that Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot almost at point-blank range," said the Russian president, adding that he did not have in mind "the Russian state but the Russian people". Putin called for immediate talks on the future of east Ukraine, saying for the first time that "statehood" should be considered for the region. "We need to immediately begin substantive talks ... on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood in south-eastern Ukraine with the goal of protecting the lawful interests of the people who live there," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on the TV show broadcast in the far east of the country. Russia has previously only called for greater rights under a decentralised federal system to be accorded to the eastern regions of Ukraine, where predominantly Russian-speakers live. The EU's stepped-up sanctions plan came after the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, visited Brussels to urge the EU to take tougher steps against Russia, which he accused of "military aggression and terror". "We are very close to the point of no return, the point of no return is full-scale war, which is already happening in the territories controlled by the separatists," he told a news conference. "Today we are talking about the fate of Ukraine, tomorrow it could be for all Europe." Lithuania's president, Dalia Grybauskaite, whose country is wary of a resurgent Russia on its own borders, gave a similar warning as she urged the EU to send military equipment to Kiev. "Russia is practically in a state of war against Europe," she said. The EU delivered a further riposte to Russia on Saturday when it appointed the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, a vocal Kremlin critic, to replace Van Rompuy as its next president. The EU and the US have already slapped tough sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis, including Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March. Moscow has denied any troop presence in its western neighbour, despite the capture of paratroopers by Kiev and reports of secret military funerals being held in Russia. But Nato claimed on Thursday that Russia had sent at least 1,000 troops to fight alongside the insurgents, as well as air defence systems, artillery, tanks and armoured vehicles, and had massed 20,000 troops near the border. The fresh rebel offensive has raised fears that the Kremlin could be seeking to create a corridor between Russia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Ukraine has openly asked the EU for military help, and on Friday Kiev announced that it would also seek membership of Nato, a move sure to further enrage the Kremlin. Poroshenko will travel to the Nato summit in Wales this week to meet the US president, Barack Obama, and seek practical help from the western alliance. Poroshenko said on Saturday that fresh peace talks grouping representatives of Kiev, Moscow and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would take place in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Monday. In Ukraine, there was no sign of a let-up in the fighting, as the rebels vowed to launch a new military push. Alexander Zakharchenko, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Russian media on Saturday that rebels were "preparing a second large-scale offensive". Kiev said on Saturday that another air force plane had been shot down in the east, blaming it on a "Russian anti-aircraft system". Faced with the reinvigorated insurgent push that has dramatically turned the tide of the conflict, Ukrainian forces have been trapped in a string of towns in the south-east. Kiev's troops began a withdrawal from besieged positions near the transport hub of Ilovaysk, which lies east of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk, after holding ground without reinforcements for 10 days. In the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol to the south of Donetsk, citizens dug trenches as they prepared to defend the city from a possible rebel offensive from the east. -- 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.
