elf schreef op 5 februari 2015 14:31:
01:00:39
Merkel joins Hollande on emergency peace mission to Ukraine, Russia
By Stacy Meichtry and Anton Troianovski
Published: Feb 5, 2015 8:20 a.m. ET
Visits this week come as fighting in region escalates
PARIS — French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are set to travel to Kiev on Thursday afternoon, and to Moscow on Friday, in an emergency effort to craft a new plan to stop the escalating violence in Eastern Ukraine.
“In Ukraine, there is war,” Hollande told a news conference in Paris. “With the chancellor … I’ve decided to take this initiative.”
Hollande warned that efforts to seek a diplomatic solution “can’t be prolonged indefinitely.” The French and German leaders will meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday, said Hollande.
The surprise trip by the two leaders is the most dramatic effort yet by Europeans seeking to broker a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Merkel has resisted going to Moscow herself despite past speculation she would do so, in part because it would hand Putin a propaganda coup, people close to her have said.
But a surge in violence in recent weeks has changed the calculus, rekindling fears that the conflict could turn into an open war between Ukraine and Russia. Attempts by the German and French foreign ministers to broker a deal between their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in two meetings in Berlin in January have failed to calm the crisis. The visit also comes after an attempt to convene a similar summit in January in Kazakhstan failed, with none of the parties ready to agree to a deal.
The proposal will be based on sustaining Ukraine’s territorial unity. Hollande said he, along with Merkel, will discuss the proposal on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Maar het gaat tijdens de lunch ook nog wel ergens anders over en Putin zal langzamerhand ook wel iets moeten toegeven want het gaat aan de Wolga niet zo lekker.