September 3, 2014
Mariah Timms
News Writer
World News
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko are in talks to plan ceasefire in Ukraine crisis in the Donbass region. Putin said Wednesday that the ceasefire plan should be finalized when the two resume talks in Minsk Friday. Putin also said he will propose a seven-point peace plan, reports the BBC:
- The Ukrainian army and eastern rebels should stop “active offensive operations”
- Ukrainian troops must pull back to a distance where they would be unable to shell population centres
- International monitoring of the ceasefire
- No use of military jets against civilians
- “All-for-all” prisoner exchange without preconditions
- Humanitarian corridor for refugees and to deliver aid
- Restoration of destroyed infrastructure.
A spokesperson for Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia would not agree to a ceasefire because Russia was not officially party to the conflict. Instead, Russia is only in talks in the hope of settling the conflict.
More than 2,6000 civilians and combatants have been in the Donetck and Luhansk regions killed since fighting began in April when pro-Russian separatists there declared independence from Ukraine. US President Obama said Wednesday, “Nations have a right to determine their own future. This is why we stand with the people of Ukraine today.”
Andrei Purgin, an aide to the deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said to Russian news outlets that the ceasefire news came as a complete surprise.
Vladislav Brig, another rebel official, told The Associated Press: “As long as Ukrainian forces are on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic there can be no ceasefire.”
Until there is removal of Russian troops from the area, there remain EU sanctions on the Russian Federation. In fact, more are currently in the process of implementation, which will continue until a ceasefire is reached. Russia denies accusations of sending troops and military supplies to rebels.
More than one million people have been forced to flee their homes in the southeast region of Ukraine due to the fighting.
