“Together with Angela Merkel we have decided to take a new initiative,” Hollande told a news conference. “We will make a new proposal to solve the conflict which will be based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
He said that he and Merkel had worked together over the last several days to draft a text they hoped would be acceptable to both sides of the conflict. He added that France was not in favour of Ukraine joining NATO.
“It will not be said that France and Germany together have not tried everything, undertaken everything to preserve the peace,” the French president said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ukraine’s capital earlier Thursday in a show of diplomatic support for the country’s government.
Standing beside Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko after their talks in Kiev, Kerry urged Russia to show its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic solution.
“Our choice is diplomacy,” Kerry said, calling on Russia to cease its military support for the separatists and help bring them to the negotiating table.
Fierce fighting has flared again in east Ukraine in recent weeks, with pro-Russian separatists formally dropping out of peace talks and launching a new offensive.
- The separatists have been concentrating their advance on Debaltseve, a rail hub between their two main strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, where a government garrison has been holding out despite being nearly encircled.
Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of arming and funding the separatists, as well as backing the latest advance with Russian troops on the ground.
Moscow denies offering any material support to the separatists.
- NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday are expected to announce plans to boost alliance forces in Eastern Europe in a bid to counter any future Russian interference.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in April of last year, according to the United Nations.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and REUTERS)
france24.com
5/2/15
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Related:
Ukrainian president calls for NATO states to provide weapons
Providing Arms to Ukraine Complies With Minsk Agreement, State Dept. Claims
Germany won't send weapons to Ukraine (Merkel)
Separatists vow to escalate Ukraine conflict
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German, French leaders take new Ukraine peace plan to Kiev, Moscow...,
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - The leaders of Germany and France announced a new peace plan for Ukraine on Thursday, planning to fly together to Kiev and Moscow with a proposal to resolve the conflict that could be "acceptable to all".
The coordinated trip by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande comes as rebels advanced on a railway hub held by Ukrainian troops after launching an offensive that scuppered a five-month-old ceasefire.
With Washington talking of arming Ukraine for the first time, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also visited Kiev on Thursday. He had no plans to go to Moscow and was not involved in the Franco-German initiative, although he supported it............http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSKBN0L910W20150205?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
5/2/15
Statement by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini on the announcement by Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande...
ReplyDeleteSTATEMENT:
"The European Union supports all the initiatives aimed at bringing political solution to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine; the efforts of Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande, and the visits to Kyiv and Moscow they just announced, are clearly going in this direction.
The European Union is united in using all the means available to push for a political solution, by applying pressure as well as continuing dialogue."
http://eeas.europa.eu/statements-eeas/2015/150205_01_en.htm