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Ukraine Sees Hope For 'Last Chance' Peace Summit In Mid-November
October 14, 2019
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko says a peace summit could take place in Paris in mid-November if Kyiv and Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine can maintain a cease-fire in a conflict that has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014, Reuters reported.
Prystayko told the news agency in an interview on October 14 that a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany would be a "last chance" for Moscow to seriously engage in efforts toward a settlement of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week accused Russia of delaying the summit because Moscow says Kyiv needs to pull back its troops first.
Prystayko, speaking before addressing EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, told Reuters the summit would have to follow a seven-day cease-fire and the withdrawal of light weapons from the east.
"I'm still hopeful, otherwise we wouldn't even be trying," Prystayko said. "We have some dates...we are aiming for the middle of next month, sometime around mid-November."
Cease-fire road maps announced as part of the Minsk accords -- in September 2014 and February 2015 pacts -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting in eastern Ukraine but have failed to hold.
"We've told everyone openly that we are making maybe the last honest attempt to follow the Minsk path," Prystayko said.
"If it doesn't work, we will have to look to some plan B," he added, declining to say what that might be.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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