Minsk Talks - Google News: "The strategy is to keep Crimea Russian and to keep eastern Ukraine as a center of resistance..." - NYT | "The Debaltseve bubble has been shut firmly. We will not let them out. There is no way they can get out," said a commander of a reconnaissance unit who identified himself by the nom de guerre of Malysh - "Little One".
LIVE: “Normandy format” Ukraine peace talks start in Minsk
Started on Feb 11, 2015
France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine hold a new round of talks on February 11 in Minsk, Belarus in order to attempt to find a political solution regarding the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The summit was arranged after leaders of the four countries discussed the ongoing conflict by telephone on February 8 and after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande visited Moscow last Friday for crisis talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The summit was arranged after leaders of the four countries discussed the ongoing conflict by telephone on February 8 and after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande visited Moscow last Friday for crisis talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Updates and Quotes:
(From left) Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Minsk
[M.N.
(comments to the above photo as an exercise in interpsychopolitical interpretation):
The Chocolate King vs. The Gas Emperor (in a Mismatch Of The Year):
"Do not try to attack me with your poison gases, you, Tatar Moscal Emperor!"
"I will eat you up anyway, you, the sweetheart khokhol puppet impostor!"
The BundesChance: "Kiss and make up! I don't want to spend my money on neither of you, Eastern bandits."
The French Socialist Milky-Toast: "I can't watch this cheap Asiatic barbarian spectacle. Let that posh Boche madame deal with all this nonsense."]
"The stakes are high, with any failure to achieve a ceasefire likely to stoke demands in Washington for the US to arm Ukraine — a move that France and Germany fear will only worsen the war.
But even if a truce is agreed, there is no guarantee it will hold. A ceasefire signed in Minsk on September 5 was repeatedly violated and collapsed completely four months later amid renewed rebel assaults on Ukrainian positions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, which has seen its foreign currency reserves and the value of its currency plunge in recent weeks, was in talks on Wednesday with the IMF on a new bailout. Tim Ash of Standard Bank said it would be a four-year rescue valued at about $18bn. There could be several billion dollars of additional bilateral support from G7 countries.
But even more contentious is the question of how a new truce would be policed. The parties are discussing beefing up the presence of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the separatists are demanding a force formed of states of the former Soviet Union.
But even more contentious is the question of how a new truce would be policed. The parties are discussing beefing up the presence of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the separatists are demanding a force formed of states of the former Soviet Union."
Meanwhile, Ukraine, which has seen its foreign currency reserves and the value of its currency plunge in recent weeks, was in talks on Wednesday with the IMF on a new bailout. Tim Ash of Standard Bank said it would be a four-year rescue valued at about $18bn. There could be several billion dollars of additional bilateral support from G7 countries.
But even more contentious is the question of how a new truce would be policed. The parties are discussing beefing up the presence of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the separatists are demanding a force formed of states of the former Soviet Union.
But even more contentious is the question of how a new truce would be policed. The parties are discussing beefing up the presence of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the separatists are demanding a force formed of states of the former Soviet Union."
Ukraine fighting rages as leaders gather for last-ditch truce talks
FT - Last updated: February 11, 2015 7:03 pm
(From left) Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Minsk
The handshake between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders was brief, with Mr Poroshenko coming up to Mr Putin without smiling.
BBC News - Ukraine conflict: Putin shakes hands with Poroshenko as talks begin
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"The official also said that even if there is an apparent breakthrough, leaders would likely be cautious until they see Russia is implementing its side of the deal.
Late Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama called Mr. Putin for the first time in months to push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, warning of consequences for Russia if violence continued, the White House said.
Mr. Obama didn’t specifically address the possibility that the U.S. might send lethal military assistance to Kiev, something that the administration has said it is considering. Moscow has warned it would see that as a direct threat to its security."
Leaders Begin High-Stakes Summit on Ukraine Cease-Fire - WSJ
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"“The entire world is waiting to see whether the situation moves toward de-escalation, weapons pullback, cease-fire or spins out of control,” Mr. Poroshenko said upon arriving in Minsk...
Russia also plans to keep Crimea, which it annexed in March, and has called on the Ukrainian Army to withdraw from the southeast...
The outcome in Minsk depends largely on what Russia is willing to offer and what the Ukrainian president can accept...
“The question is not what the Russians want, but what the Ukrainians can accept,” said Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
“The strategy is to keep Crimea Russian and to keep eastern Ukraine as a center of resistance to the nationalist, anti-Russian tendencies which now prevail in Kiev,” he said. “The game is a long one. It will not end this month, nor this year.”"
World Leaders Meet in Belarus to Negotiate Cease-Fire in Ukraine
New York Times - 2:33 PM
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"Should the leaders of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine fail to agree to an acceptable path forward when they meet in Minsk on Wednesday, the time will be ripe for Obama to claim the historic leadership that the Donbass, Ukraine, and indeed all of Eastern Europe desperately need."
America must lead Europe in fight for Ukrainian sovereignty - The Hill (blog) - Wednesday February 11th, 2015 at 2:13 PM
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