Ukraine PM rejects Putin ceasefire plan
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has rejected a ceasefire plan proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a ploy.”
The reaction came on Wednesday after Putin outlined the seven-point peace plan that calls for an end to the “active offensive operations by the (Ukrainian) armed forces” and pro-Russia forces in southeastern Ukraine.
“I believe that a final agreement between the authorities of Kiev and southeastern Ukraine can be reached and cemented during a meeting of the Contact Group on September 5,” Putin said earlier on Wednesday.
He was referring to European-mediated negotiations planned to be held in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Friday.
The peace plan calls for the Ukrainian forces to halt airstrikes on cities in the volatile east.
Putin also called for the deployment of international observers to monitor the ceasefire, the unconditional exchange of prisoners, and the establishment of corridors for humanitarian aid supply to the crisis-stricken regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The roadmap raises hopes of an end to months-long fighting that has left more than 2,600 people dead.
Earlier in the day, Kiev said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Putin had agreed to a “permanent ceasefire” in eastern Ukraine. Russia, however, said that the leaders agreed on steps towards peace between the Kiev government and the protesters, and that no deal was reached between the two countries as Moscow is not a party to the crisis.
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russians there in mid-April.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
Western powers and the Kiev government accuse Moscow of having a hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, but Russia denies the accusation.
DB/MAM/MHB