Obama calls Putin before Minsk talks to discuss E. Ukraine peace deal – White House
Published time: February 10, 2015 20:46 In the first talk in weeks, President Barack Obama called Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis in eastern Ukraine and the upcoming meeting in Minsk to resolve the conflict, the White House said. "President Obama underscored the rising human toll of the fighting and underscored the importance of President Putin seizing the opportunity presented by the ongoing discussions between Russia, France, Germany, and Ukraine to reach a peaceful resolution," the White House said. READ MORE: Demilitarized zone, Kiev-Donetsk dialogue to be focus of Normandy 4 talks in Minsk - source <http://rt.com/news/231003-minsk-ukraine-peace-plan/> Just before the statement, a contact group including representatives from Kiev, eastern Ukrainian rebels, Russia, and OSCE finished their preparations for the Normandy Four format talks set to take place Wednesday in Minsk. TASS news agency sources said the group worked out a ceasefire plan for eastern Ukraine and ways to monitor it. A heavy weapons withdrawal scheme was also reportedly agreed upon. Another option reportedly on the table in Minsk would be creating a demilitarized zone in Donbass. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Germany, and France are expected to insist that Russia takes responsibility to establish it, RIA Novosti sources said. The run-up to the crucial meeting saw pressure mounting on the sides of the talks. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the meeting is “another huge chance…to take a big first step towards de-escalation” in south-eastern Ukraine. "But nothing has been resolved yet. The taking place of the summit alone is no guarantee of its success. I urge and expect Moscow and Kiev... to really seize this chance," Steinmeier said. Obama calls Putin before Minsk talks to discuss E. Ukraine peace deal – White House <http://rt.com/news/231147-obama-putin-call-ukraine/> http://rt.com/news/231147-obama-putin-call-ukraine/ Sent from my iPad -- Ову поруку сте добили зато што сте пријављени на Google групу „SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK“. Да бисте отказали пријаву у ову групу и престали да примате имејлове од ње, пошаљите имејл на [email protected]. Да бисте постављали у овој групи, пошаљите е-поруку на [email protected]. Посетите ову групу на http://groups.google.com/group/senet. За више опција посетите https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
