Russia-Ukraine conflict: Growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
Paris:
Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday agreed at talks in Paris that all sides should stick to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine after more than eight hours of discussions, hailed by a French diplomat as sending a “good sign”.
A Russian military force stationed near the border with eastern Ukraine has raised concerns that the Kremlin is planning a military intervention in the pro-EU neighbour, as Moscow presses for a NATO presence in Eastern Europe. .
An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the Paris talks were aimed at resolving the separatist war in eastern Ukraine since 2014, not the threat of an uprising. Russian invasion.
But “the question is whether the Russians want to signal a thaw,” he said, adding that the “difficult” discussions eventually led to something positive.
“In the current circumstances, we have received a good signal,” he said.
For the first time since 2019, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to sign a joint statement along with France and Germany on the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists in the east of the country.
The four countries have been working to reach a peace agreement for eastern Ukraine since 2014 and are collectively known as the Normandy Group.
“However, after difficult discussions since December 2019, the Normandy Group was able to agree on several key points,” said the French aide.
The joint statement pledged both sides to “unconditional respect for the ceasefire” and also said they would meet again in two weeks in Berlin.
A 2014 truce – reinforced in 2020 – ended the worst fighting in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine that has claimed the lives of about 13,000 people.
Western countries fear that Russia could use the flames that broke out in skirmishes along the front between Ukrainian troops and the separatists as a pretext to launch an invasion of its neighbour. .
‘Not easy’
Kremlin special envoy Dmitry Kozak said the main outcome of the four-way talks involving France and Germany was an agreement on maintaining the ceasefire.
He said that “despite all the differences in interpretation, we agree that the ceasefire (in eastern Ukraine) must be maintained by all parties in accordance with the agreements”.
Announcing that the new round of talks would be held in Berlin in two weeks, he added: “We need an additional pause. We hope that the process will be fruitful in two weeks.”
He said the Berlin talks would take place at the same level as the session in Paris with diplomatic envoys, and added that for now a summit involving heads of state is “nothing”. on the agenda”.
“We hope our colleagues have understood our argument and that in two weeks we will have a result,” said Kozak, who is also the deputy head of President Vladimir Putin’s administration.
He stressed that the situation in eastern Ukraine – where pro-Russian separatists have declared secession from the regions – and tensions along the border are “two separate issues”.
Ukraine’s special envoy Andriy Yermak, speaking exclusively to reporters, said the negotiations were “not easy”.
“Support for a sustainable ceasefire is extremely important,” he said, adding that there are differences in interpretation of the Minsk Agreements that ended the worst fighting in 2014. .
“It is very important that today’s joint communique is the first meaningful text that we have tried to agree on since December 2019” when President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky met in Paris.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
