Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in meetings with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko in Minsk on August 26, the Kremlin said today. President Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan, who are part of the Russia-led Customs Union, will be present. (The leaders) will discuss the relations between Ukraine and the Customs Union and there will be a number of bilateral meetings, Peskov said. Representatives of the European Commission will also take part in the meeting in the Belarusian capital, the Kremlin said. Putin will also hold several bilateral meetings in Minsk, the Kremlin added. They will discuss the humanitarian disaster in eastern Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, EU Commissioners for Trade and Energy Karel De Gucht and Gunther Oettinger will come for the meeting in Minsk, the European Commission press service said. The Customs Union member states are Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan ... Merkel to visit Kiev ... Germanys federal Press and Information Office said today that Chancellor Angela Merkel is to hold comprehensive talks with Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko, meet Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and probably also several city mayors, during a visit on Saturday - her first to Ukraine since the crisis there began. Last Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier invited his counterparts from Russia, Ukraine and France to Berlin for talks which, however, ended without agreement on how to end the crisis. Months of fighting between Ukraine government forces and separatists in the east of the former Soviet state have killed more than 2,100 people and left the region facing a humanitarian catastrophe ... Kiev strikes Donetsk, Lugansk ... Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army today carried out artillery strikes against populated and industrial areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions in east Ukraine, disrupting water supplies, said local authorities. UKR Junta Forces delivered massive artillery strikes on large populated areas and industrial enterprises in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions in east Ukraine. The UKR Juntas military howitzers and multiple launch rocket systems shelled residential quarters in Donetsk, Horlivka, Yenakiyevo and Makeyevka. The Donetsk city council said that artillery shells had exploded in a residential neighborhood near the airport and destroyed a local school while local residents were hiding in basements and bomb shelters. The shelling started on Monday evening and continued until Tuesday morning. Water supply has been disrupted in the area. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko earlier said that the Ukrainian army’s shelling had destroyed electricity transmission lines supplying power to water filtration stations. “Teams have been dispatched to restore water supply to populated areas and there are plans to use reserve water reservoirs,” Zakharchenko said, adding that “facilities were located on the territory occupied by the Ukrainian army,” which complicated restoration efforts. Read more: voiceofrussia/uk/news/2014_08_19/Ukraine-Putin-to-meet-with-Poroshenko-Ashton-at-Customs-Union-forum-3928/
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 17:31:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015