As civil war in the Ukraine enters into its 9th month, the attempts of negotiators to bring the two sides together for peace talks have been called off due to both sides accusing the other of violations made on an agreement made in September. The most recent meeting that was to take place was scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday, January 14th however no meeting took place and now there are questions about the future of the peace talks.
“I can’t say yet if and when a meeting will take place. Such a meeting only makes sense if we can make real progress” Steffen Seibert, Angela Merkel’s spokesman said regarding the prospects of the meeting actually taking place. To place more pessimism onto the prospects of the peace talks taking place, a total of 4 Ukrainian Soldiers and 2 civilians were killed on Friday in Eastern Ukraine.
“We have a very clear idea of what constitutes real progress. This would be first and foremost achieving the full implementation of the Minsk peace accord and a genuine and lasting ceasefire, a contact line between the areas controlled by Ukraine and rebels and a withdrawal of heavy weaponry. Such things must be prepared in advance”, Mr. Seibert went onto say.
There was no specific reason for the cancellation of the earlier meeting other than Belarus Foreign Ministry spokesman Dmitry Mironchik telling Agence France Presse that “There will be no contact meeting today and that, Belarus is always ready to offer Minsk as a negotiations venue”.
However despite all the negativity surrounding the crisis, there have been optimistic moments like the release of four Ukrainian government soldiers that were held by pro- Russian militia. Additionally, 146 prisoners were also exchanged for 222 rebels held Ukrainian soldiers.
The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has left 4,700 dead including 12 civilians who were killed this past Tuesday when Pro- Russian separatist attacked a bus that was leaving Donetsk airport.
“We are working on this (regarding the new date for the meeting) and I hope the session will be held in the next few days” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said. As the two sides prepare for a new meeting, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko re-supplied his army with a new delivery of fighter jets, howitzers and armored cars.
“I am convinced that 2015 will be the year of our victory” Mr. Poroshenko said regarding the delivery of the new supply of weapons. “In order to achieve that we need a strong, patriotic and well equipped army”.
The conflict began in April 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea and declared it part of its territory.
“We call on Russia to fulfill its commitment under the Minsk agreement which includes ceasing it’s substantial military support for to the separatists restoring Ukraine sovereignty over the international border between Ukraine and Russia, releasing all hostages, and working toward the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine” United States Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf said at a recent state department press conference.
Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are all planning on attending the upcoming meeting.
Ultimately the two sides will have to come to an agreement that will re assert Ukraine’s sovereignty and remove the Russian influence from it’s country and to allow Ukraine to self govern it’s own people without outside influence.
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