In Ukraine, Deal to Hasten Prisoner Swaps
by VOA News October 17, 2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko held a second meeting Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Milan in another attempt to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
The four leaders and their aides met in a central Milan hotel on the sidelines of the 10th biannual summit of Asian and European leaders. Asked by reporters about the results of the second meeting, President Putin replied: 'Good.'
For his part, President Poroshenko said some progress had been made in resolving the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over gas supplies, saying he and Putin had agreed on the 'main parameters' of a new contract with Russia for the delivery of natural gas.
In June, Moscow halted gas delivery to energy-dependent Ukraine over what it said was more than $5 billion in unpaid gas bills. Restarting delivery has more urgency with winter approaching and consumer demand in Europe set to rise.
Exchange of prisoners
French President Francois Hollande said an agreement had also been reached to "accelerate" the exchange of prisoners between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists.
Earlier Friday, Putin met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who afterwards called it a 'positive meeting,' saying that the Russian president does not want a 'frozen conflict' in eastern Ukraine.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said some of Putin's interlocutors had shown a 'complete unwillingness to understand the reality in southeastern Ukraine."
German Chancellor Merkel met with Putin late Thursday, after which she said there was progress 'on some details,' but that 'the main issue is continued violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.'
Diplomatic ties between Russia and Western nations have hit a post-Cold War low this year over Kremlin support for the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine and Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The annexation triggered the first of several rounds of U.S.-led economic sanctions against Russia.
East-West tensions were further strained in July by the shootdown in Ukrainian airspace of a Malaysian airliner with 298 people on board. Moscow has repeatedly denied supplying rebels with the Russian missile battery linked to the shootdown.
The EU and the United States have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and support of the rebel insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies helping the rebels and has retaliated with counter-sanctions that have hit Europe's food sector hard.
End to fighting encouraged
The Europeans are pushing for implementation of the so-called Minsk agreements, which calls on both sides to stop fighting and pull out troops and heavy weapons from the border area.
The Europeans also are pressing Russia to recognize Ukraine's upcoming parliamentary elections and denounce those planned those by separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Hollande said France and Germany have offered up drones to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to verify that troops and weapons retreat from the border zone. Russia is reportedly pushing to have its drones also take part.
Next week, Ukrainian, Russian and EU officials are to hold talks in Brussels on resolving a gas pricing dispute that threatens to cut supplies to Ukraine this winter, and may also disrupt supplies to Europe.
Frustrations arise
Friday morning in Milan had its setbacks. The Kremlin had complained of 'misunderstandings and disagreements' and Ukraine's president acknowledged he was 'not very optimistic' after the start of talks.
Some European leaders showed a reluctance to understand the 'real situation' in southeastern Ukraine, a spokesman for Putin said.
'Certain participants' have an 'absolutely biased, nonflexible, nondiplomatic' approach to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dimityr Peskov said after a breakfast meeting among Putin, Poroshenko and other European leaders.
'The talks are indeed difficult, full of misunderstandings, disagreements, but they are nevertheless ongoing,' Peskov told reporters. 'The exchange of opinion is in progress.'
Poroshenko, meanwhile, had told Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann he had dimming hopes of a breakthrough.
'Unfortunately, I am not very optimistic,' Poroshenko said, according to a Reuters reporter who witnessed their meeting.
VOA's Lisa Bryant contributed to this report from Paris. Additional material was provided by Reuters and AFP.
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