Reuters
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday called for a second international conference to put an end to the crisis in Ukraine.
He said he made the proposal in telephone conversations on Sunday with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
“In the many discussions I’ve had in the last couple of hours, I’ve been campaigning ... to hold a second meeting in Geneva to follow up on the first one,” he told ARD television, according to a text of an interview to be aired later.
He said the purpose of such a meeting would be “finally to make clear agreements on how we can put an end to this conflict and gradually move towards a political solution”.
“Anything else would be irresponsible because it would only mean there are more victims,” he added.
On April 17, the US, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union struck a deal in Geneva that outlined steps to defuse the crisis, including the disarmament of militants and a national dialogue on constitutional reform. The OSCE is charged with overseeing implementation of the accord.
Moscow and Kiev accuse each other of undermining the deal.
A Russian deputy foreign minister said yesterday that “in the coming days” there would be unspecified new efforts to have the Ukrainian government open a “dialogue” with the rebels.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said yesterday that the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, will visit Moscow on Wednesday for talks on the crisis in Ukraine.
Burkhalter will fly to Moscow on May 7, the Kremlin said in a statement after President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“Putin and Merkel stressed the importance of effective international action - especially by the OSCE - in reducing the tensions in Ukraine,” Russia said in a statement.
Putin stressed the need to establish dialogue between the pro-Western leaders in Kiev and the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, who control more than a dozen towns.
The leaders also discussed the supply of Russian gas and its transit, based on the results of a recent meeting in Warsaw.
In Warsaw on Friday, Russia threatened to cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine in June if it receives no prepayment in an escalating row between Moscow, Ukraine and the European Union over energy supplies.