Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko discussed a peace settlement in eastern Ukraine last week. The Russian government’s spokesperson Dmitry Pescov said Wednesday that the two men “largely share views” on what could be done to end the bloodshed.
On his part, Poroshenko said that an agreement was reached on Wednesday for a permanent ceasefire in east Ukraine’s Donbass region. “Mutual understanding was achieved concerning the steps that will enable the establishment of peace,” tweeted Poroshenko after a telephone conversation with Putin.
The Kremlin reacted to the tweet by stating that while Poroshenko and Putin did discuss how to resolve the conflict no cease-fire agreement has yet been achieved. There was no immediate word from Russia-backed separatists.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of sending support to pro-Russian insurgents that have been fighting government troops in eastern Ukraine since April but Moscow has denied this.
Russian president is reported by the press to have said that Russian troops would be able to “take Kiev in two weeks” if necessary in a talk with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The Russian side denies this and says that it has both the transcript and the audio recording that would “remove all misunderstandings”.
Russia’s Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said in a letter to Barroso that the disclosure of phone conversation details by the EC is “incorrect” with the word’s taken out of context and going beyond the bounds of diplomatic practice.
Over the weekend, EU leaders agreed to start a new round of measures against Russia following NATO’s accusations that Russia sent tanks and troops to southeastern Ukraine. A NATO summit in Wales on Thursday is expected to decide on sanctions.
U.N. stats show that 2,600 people have been killed and 340,000 left their homes.
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