AFP 21-12-2014 - 7:23 p.m. Lukashenko in Ukraine while the peace talks stalled Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko met with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev on Sunday, distancing himself from Moscow while the preparation of peace talks on the conflict in Ukraine stalled. According to sources in the Ukrainian power, Lukashenko bane of Westerners and longtime ally of Russia, but has kept particularly to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, also wants to seek Kiev to help him get closer to Europe. Belarussian President said he was ready to do everything to help Ukraine to appease the murderous armed conflict in the eastern rebel during his meeting with his pro-Western counterpart Petro Poroshenko. We will do everything for there to be peace and quiet here, Lukashenko said, quoted by his press service as the armed conflict has claimed more than 4,700 lives since its beginning in April. A new round of talks between Kiev and rebels was expected Sunday in Minsk to revive the peace process but the protagonists are not able to confirm this date in advance or even to another. There is no new information regarding the date of the meeting in Minsk, said AFP on Sunday Denis Pushilin, representing the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk (DNR). Germany, Europes mediator in the Ukrainian crisis, yet has repeatedly stressed this week the importance of meeting physical between the rebels and the Contact Group composed of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and OSCE. Chancellor Angela Merkel had a telephone conversation Saturday with Mr. Poroshenko about it. It is crucial to organize the meeting, said the Ukrainian presidency in a statement. The main sticking point is the demand of the separatists that Kiev resume budget financing of the separatist regions, cut off in mid-November. Kiev does require that the results be canceled separatist vote in November in the two breakaway republics. Despite the delay in the negotiations, the new truce established on December 9 in eastern Ukraine continues to be generally respected. No Ukrainian soldier has been killed in the last 24 hours, said Kiev Sunday. The visit of the Belarusian President in Kiev Monday will be followed by that of his counterpart in Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Lukashenko and Nazarbaev felt weak (Vladimir) Putin and want Ukraine helps them to improve their relations with Europe, he told AFP a senior Ukrainian official, on condition of anonymity . President Poroshenko suggested Sunday his Belarusian counterpart to support Minsk relations development with countries of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union, according to the Ukrainian presidency. Events in Ukraine triggered the worst political confrontation since the Cold War between the West and Russia, hit by Western sanctions that caused a record collapse of the ruble. Some analysts MM. Lukashenko and Nazarbaev, both of which are at the head of the neighboring former Soviet republics of Russia, fear for their independence from Moscows annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in March and support to rebels in armed conflict east of Ukraine. The two presidents publicly supported the integrity territory of Ukraine, at the risk of offending Moscow.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 21:55:35 +0000
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