Ukraine crisis: Hollande and Merkel in key truce talks in Moscow
 French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to hold talks in Moscow to try to end escalating fighting in east Ukraine. Their meeting with President Vladimir Putin follows urgent talks in Kiev, where a new peace plan was presented. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was also in Kiev, said the US wanted a diplomatic solution, but would not close its eyes to Russian aggression. Moscow is accused of arming pro-Russian rebels - a claim it denies. Russia also rejects claims by Ukraine and the West that its regular troops are fighting alongside the rebels against Ukrainian troops in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Clashes - which have intensified in recent weeks after a rebel offensive - have left nearly 5,400 people dead since April, the UN says. As a result, a September ceasefire - signed in Minsk, Belarus - is now in tatters. In separate developments on Friday:
President Hollande and Mrs Merkel will meet President Putin in Moscow later on Friday to discuss new peace proposals. On Thursday, the two leaders examined the plan with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, without releasing any details. Mr Poroshenko said in a statement that the meeting with Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande "give hopes... for a ceasefire". Ahead of the Kiev talks, Mr Hollande said he and Mrs Merkel would present a new peace proposal based on the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine, which could be "acceptable to all". However, he warned that diplomacy "cannot go on indefinitely". Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted late on Thursday: "Good mtg of Normandy Troika. Minsk agts- roadmap to peace&territorial integrity of Ukraine. Specific steps 2 ensure implementation discussed." And he added that Ukraine "is not being pressured", in an apparent reference to reports of possible concessions to Russia. |
