Share

Clashes resume ahead of Ukraine peace talks

Kiev - Ukrainian forces lost five soldiers on Friday in a sudden resurgence of clashes ahead of peace talks aimed at ending the separatist conflict and mending East-West ties.

The toll was the highest since Kiev and Russian-backed militias struck a December 9 truce designed to reinforce a tenuous September agreement that was followed by at least 1 300 more deaths.

Last week's breakthrough was meant to set the stage for comprehensive talks that Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko had hoped to hold on Sunday with the help of European and Russian envoys in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

But a top rebel said the insurgents would only be ready by Monday - a point underscoring the types of small squabbles that have hindered political progress throughout the eight-month war.

Separatists and the new leaders in Kiev who are trying to fold their ex-Soviet republic into the West began Skype video talks on Friday designed to nail down a final date.

"We proposed 22 December because it suits us better for technical reasons," separatist negotiator Denis Pushilin told AFP by telephone.

French President Francois Hollande - who along with Poroshenko had joined two conference calls between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin in the past week - also said the meeting would "happen on Sunday or Monday".

The four are expected to consult each other again over the next couple of days.

The scale of the fighting has subsided with the onset of winter and heavy snows that make progress across the war-scarred fields and muddied roads impossible.

All sides are now busy looking for ways to ensure that millions of civilians who have been unable to flee the artillery shelling and rocket fire make it safely through the winter in apartments with little to no water or heat.

The United Nations believes the daily battles have killed more than 4 700 people and driven nearly a million from their homes.

Its children's fund Unicef said on Friday that "tens of thousands" of youth still lived in areas engulfed by violence.

"The situation for more than 1.7 million children affected by the conflict remains extremely serious," the UN Children's Rights and Emergency Relief Organisation said.

Buffer zone

Any peace agreement is likely to include a requirement for fighters on both sides to let through humanitarian convoys they fear may be used to smuggle in weapons to their adversaries.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was essential for the new agreement to set up a buffer zone that sets the initial boundaries of areas overseen by the rebels within a unified Ukraine.

Steinmeier added after talks in Kiev with Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk that the sides must also agree to swap their remaining prisoners and "resolve humanitarian relief issues".

Poroshenko had been expected to urge Steinmeier to hold strong on sanctions against Russia that some EU member nations think should be gradually eased in the coming months.

EU leaders on Thursday slapped sanctions against Russian-administered Crimea they had approved at an earlier meeting but took no additional steps against Russia itself.

The White House on Thursday said US President Barack Obama also did not intend to impose new punitive measures on Russia despite signing an act approved by Congress that allows him to do so at any point.

Obama further stressed that Washington - like Brussels - was ready to lift its restrictions if Russia de-escalated the conflict by paying respect to "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov still warned the White House that legislation "threatening new sanctions against Russia could undermine the possibility of normal cooperation between our countries for a long time".

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 575 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 820 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.89
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.87
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.1%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE