Category: Ukraine

Christine Larage: the Ukrainian authorities are demonstrating courage to reform we’ve never seen before The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it would provide a new four-year $17.5bn bailout for war-torn Ukraine that is expected to lead to a restructuring of Kiev’s privately-held debts so that it can shore up its public finances. The new rescue replaces a $17bn programme launched less than a year ago but abandoned when the conflict with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern districts worsened, undermining the country’s public finances. The IMF had distributed $4.5bn in the first programme, bringing the fund’s total commitment to Ukraine to $22bn. More On this story On this topic IN Europe With separate EU and US pledges already made — and expected promises of bilateral loans from the world’s biggest economies worth several billion dollars — the size of the financial aid package will reach $40bn. But it may […]

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ENLARGE Russian President Vladimir Putin, third left, shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, as they participated in peace talks on resolving the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk, Belarus, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters MINSK, Belarus—The leaders of France and Germany brokered a renewed deal to end Ukraine’s 10-month conflict with Russia-backed separatists, reviving and amending a failed September cease-fire agreement in marathon talks that lasted through the night. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the deal calls for a cease-fire starting on Sunday, with each side pulling back heavy weapons, as well as steps to give greater autonomy to the Russia-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Details of the agreement weren’t immediately available. The deal came after 17 hours of talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk involving Mr. Putin, French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier […]

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MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emerged from marathon Ukraine peace talks by announcing a new cease-fire deal, but questions remained whether Ukraine and the pro-Russian rebels have agreed on its terms. Putin told reporters that the cease-fire will be effective starting from Sunday, but he added that he and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko disagreed on assessing the situation in a key flashpoint. The government-controlled town of Debaltseve, a key transport hub between the two main rebel-controlled cities in the east, has been the focus of intense fighting in recent weeks as the rebels sought to encircle the Ukrainian troops there. Putin said that the rebels consider the Ukrainian forces surrounded and expect them to surrender, while Ukraine disagrees with that. He added that they agreed with Poroshenko to clarify the situation. Putin urged the warring parties to show restraint. Poroshenko said the parties agreed […]

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ENLARGE A bus station hit during shelling between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government forces in Donetsk on Wednesday. Photo: Associated Press Heavy fighting continued in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, just hours before leaders were expected to gather for a high-stakes summit to negotiate a cease-fire in the 10-month conflict between pro-Russia separatists and Kiev. Lower-level talks were scheduled to resume early Wednesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, the foreign ministry said, in an effort to hammer out the basics of a deal that could be finalized later in the day by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France if an agreement appeared close. “There are a number of problems which remain to be resolved…but it is very likely to go ahead,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio early Wednesday, according to news agency reports, referring to the leaders’ summit. “It is really a […]

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Ukrainian military vehicles drive toward the flashpoint city of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine on Sunday. ENLARGE Photo: Associated Press MUNICH—The U.S. and Germany are struggling to maintain a united front against an unflinching Russia ahead of a crucial week of high-stakes, top-level diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until Wednesday to agree to a road map to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to Western officials. If in her assessment Russian intransigence has blocked a deal, they said, Germany will likely move to step up European sanctions against Russian companies, possibly including broader asset freezes. Separately, the U.S. is considering supplying Ukraine with lethal aid. President Barack Obama has held off on a decision until he sees Ms. Merkel—who has publicly opposed weapons deliveries—on Monday morning. The confluence of events—which follows a recent surge of deadly fighting between Ukrainian forces […]

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Angela Merkel speaking at the Munich conference Angela Merkel is to meet President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday in a bid to secure a diplomatic solution to the escalating Ukraine crisis amid calls for the US administration to arm Kiev. The German chancellor’s visit comes after the latest round of talks between France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia failed to result in a peace accord at the weekend. Adamantly opposed to arming Ukraine, Ms Merkel is putting huge efforts into bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. In a four-way phone call on Sunday, Mr Putin and Ms Merkel, together with French President François Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, agreed to meet on Wednesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Talks have taken on new urgency following the collapse of September’s ceasefire agreement as Russian-backed rebels seize government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine. The Washington meeting comes […]

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MUNICH — The Cold War is history, but its spirit this weekend stalked the security conference held here each winter for the past 51 years. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Senator John McCain drew very different lessons from the West’s 20th-century showdown with the Soviet Union, as they clashed over whether to arm Kiev’s troops in response to Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine . That disagreement represents one of the sharpest rifts yet over how the allies should respond to the current challenge from Moscow. Europe is very different from the days when the militaries of NATO and the Soviet bloc stared each other down. But the crisis in Ukraine has reopened familiar differences as to whether the threat of force — in this case, Washington’s readiness to bolster Ukraine’s military against pro-Russian rebels backed by the Kremlin — is more effective than months of so-far failed negotiations. […]

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DEBALTSEVE, Ukraine/MOSCOW (Reuters) – The leaders of France and Germany flew out of Moscow in the dead of night after five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin on Friday, with little to announce to end fighting in Ukraine beyond a promise to keep talking. None of the leaders spoke publicly after the meeting, which ended around midnight with President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel whisked straight from the Kremlin back to the airport. The French and German leaders had held similar late talks the night before with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, part of a last-ditch push for a breakthrough before EU leaders consider new financial sanctions against Russia next week. European officials had played down expectations ahead of the Moscow talks, expressing doubt that Putin would compromise while pro-Russian rebels are advancing on the ground. Afterwards, Moscow and Berlin both described a commitment to work on a "possible […]

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KIEV, Ukraine — With fighting intensifying in eastern Ukraine and the White House weighing whether to send arms to bolster the government’s forces, Western leaders embarked on a concerted diplomatic effort on Thursday aimed at ending a conflict that has strained relations with Russia. Despite the burst of activity, the prospects of achieving a new peace plan have been clouded by deep suspicion of Moscow’s aims in Ukraine. At the same time, the arrest in Kiev on Wednesday of a senior officer on charges of spying for Russia has raised concerns that the Ukrainian military has been infiltrated, complicating any plans for sending arms to Kiev. While the United States has provided weapons to allies in similarly unstable circumstances, including in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia’s long historical ties to the Ukrainian military and security apparatus present an unusual challenge. “Very often one cannot tell where the F.S.B. stops and […]

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ENLARGE A man examines the wreckage of his car in the suburbs of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Sunday after it was destroyed by shelling the day before. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine—Cease-fire talks broke down between Ukraine’s government and Russian-backed rebels while Kiev reported 28 soldiers killed over the weekend in some of the deadliest fighting since a tentative peace deal was signed in September. Artillery duels around a government-held railway hub of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine squelched hopes to stem a return to full-scale fighting. Both sides accused the other of shelling civilian areas Sunday. Ukraine’s military says it expects a surge in fighting in the coming days, after Russia sent a convoy of what it said was humanitarian aid into the country over the weekend. Kiev has accused the Kremlin of using the aid convoys to funnel munitions to the rebels and says there is usually an […]

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