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UPDATED Ukraine crisis: Obama lashes out at Russian ‘aggression’ ahead of NATO summit [archived v8]
Pro-Russian rebels reject Ukraine’s ceasefire announcement
The Associated Press Posted: Sep 03, 2014 2:39 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 03, 2014 1:04 PM ET
UPDATED Ukraine crisis: Obama lashes out at Russian ‘aggression’ ahead of NATO summit [archived v8]
Pro-Russian rebels reject Ukraine’s ceasefire announcement
The Associated Press Posted: Sep 03, 2014 2:39 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 03, 2014 1:04 PM ET
Ceasefire confusion in Eastern Ukraine
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Ceasefire confusion in Eastern Ukraine 2:33
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U.S. President Barack Obama lashed out at Russia on Wednesday, casting Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine as a threat to peace in Europe. He vigorously vowed to come to the defence of NATO allies that fear they could become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next target.
“It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation,” he said to a packed concert hall. Obama was in Tallinn, Estonia’s port capital, ahead of Thursday’s NATO summit.
“Borders cannot be withdrawn at the barrel of a gun,” he said.
Why the U.S. avoids calling Russia’s actions an ‘invasion’ [http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-crisis-why-the-u-s-avoids-calling-russia-s-actions-an-invasion-1.2750469]
Ukraine conflict: NATO seeks to ward off more Russian aggression [http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-conflict-nato-seeks-to-ward-off-more-russian-aggression-1.2752901]
NATO vs. Putin: Ukraine crisis redefining much more than borders [http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nato-vs-putin-ukraine-crisis-redefining-much-more-than-borders-1.2752447]
Obama reiterated his support for Ukraine, saying it must be free to make its own choices and be free from intimidation. He also took aim at one of Russia’s main rationales for its provocations in Ukraine: the protection of Russian speakers living outside its borders. Like Ukraine, Estonia and other Baltic nations have sizeable Russian-speaking populations, compounding their fears that Moscow could seek to intervene inside their borders.
“We reject the lie that people cannot live and thrive together just because they have different backgrounds or speak a different language,” Obama said.
Shortly after the president arrived in Estonia Wednesday morning, there was a brief flicker of hope for a resolution to the conflict. The Ukrainian president’s office announced that it had reached a ceasefire agreement with Putin. But the statement was ambiguous, and a top rebel figure quickly said no ceasefire was possible without Ukraine withdrawing its forces.
“As long as Ukrainian forces are on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic, there can be no ceasefire,” rebel official Vladislav Brig told The Associated Press.
Putin’s spokesman claimed that Moscow was not in a position to agree to a ceasefire because it was not a party to the conflict.
Putin’s 7-point peace plan
In the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, Putin issued his own peace plan for eastern Ukraine, calling on the Russian-backed insurgents there to “stop advancing” and urging Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the region.
Putin, for his part, is eager to avoid further international sanctions that could hurt his resource-based economy.
‘No country should ever be held hostage to another nation that wields energy like a weapon.’
– U.S. President Barack Obama
Amid the diplomatic chess match, a Ukrainian official said the bodies of 87 soldiers had been retrieved from southeastern Ukraine. Mykhailo Logvinov, a military official in Zaporizhye, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the soldiers were killed near the eastern city of Ilovaysk, the scene of a horrific government defeat over the weekend. He said the remains were being identified by local forensic experts.
Putin said he came up with a 7-point peace plan on the plane trip there — one in which Kyiv must withdraw its troops and stop its artillery strikes.
Putin also urged an unconditional exchange of prisoners and said he expected a final agreement between Kyiv and the rebels to be reached Friday at peace talks in Minsk, Belarus.
But the plan does not address the territorial status of Ukraine, said Putin’s spokesperson.
“This is not a comprehensive plan. This is a proposal on priority measures and everything else is an issue for further negotiation,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Interfax in response to a question about the status of the areas claimed by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
In a statement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk? rejected Putin’s proposals, saying they were an attempt to deceive the West and to avoid new sanctions against Moscow.
“The real plan of Putin is to destroy Ukraine and to restore the Soviet Union,” Arseny Yatseniuk said in a statement.
Obama-Urmas Paet
U.S. President Barack Obama greeted by Estonia’s foreign minister, Urmas Paet, after arriving in Tallinn on Wednesday. Obama was in the Baltic state to reassure his NATO allies who fear they could be the next targets of Russian aggression in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
“All previous agreements made with Russia — in Geneva, in Normandy, in Berlin and in Minsk — were ignored or brazenly violated by the Russian regime,” he said.
The rebels ignored a 10-day unilateral ceasefire that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had called in June. There have also been previous statements of agreements on steps for peace, but the conflict between separatists and the government in Kyiv has only intensified since it began in mid-April.
Poroshenko’s office first said there was an “agreement on a permanent ceasefire,” but later revised its statement to say an “agreement on a ceasefire regime.” The changes — which appeared in Ukrainian, Russian and English versions — seemed to indicate the two leaders agreed on the conditions necessary for a ceasefire, not that one would imminently be implemented.
Germany said it does not have confirmation of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine so a timeline on further sanctions against Russia agreed by European leaders last weekend is still valid, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We have no real confirmation of what was really or possibly agreed there and what that would affect and how that would actually be implemented. So we’re sticking to the timeframe the European Council agreed on Saturday,” said Steffen Seibert.
Obama encourages energy diversification
Obama offered no new options for penalizing Russia beyond more sanctions and reiterated his opposition to getting involved in the conflict militarily.
UKRAINE-CRISIS/
An armed pro-Russian separatist stands next to an APC in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Rebel officials said there can be no ceasefire as long as Ukrainian forces are in Donetsk. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)
“Make no mistake, Russia is paying a price,” he said, citing the country’s fleeing capital and plummeting currency as examples.
“Russia’s actions are hurting the Russian people,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“No country should ever be held hostage to another nation that wields energy like a weapon,” Obama said.Obama also encouraged European nations to diversify their energy sources, especially as members of the EU had been hesitant to sanction Russia because of their reliance on its natural gas. Russia had cut off exports to Ukraine in July in a dispute over pricing.
In an earlier appearance on Wednesday with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Obama said the U.S. would send more Air Force units and aircraft to the Baltics. Under the NATO charter, an attack on one member is considered an attack on the entire alliance.
Obama called Estonia’s Amari Air Base an ideal location to base those additional forces. He ticked through a list of U.S. military resources already at work in the region, and said the U.S. has a duty under the NATO charter to the alliance’s collective defence.
“It is unbreakable, it is unwavering, it is eternal. And Estonia will never stand alone,” Obama said.
Russia denies involvement
Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to support pro-Russian insurgents who have been fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine since mid-April. Moscow has vehemently denied this charge.
That denial leaves unclear how effective the truce announced Wednesday would prove to be. After a meeting with Poroshenko last week, Putin had said a ceasefire was not discussed because Russia was not a party to the conflict.
Ukraine crisis
Ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed about 2,600 people and displaced more than 340,000 since fighting began in mid-April. (Reuters/Maks Levin)
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted by Russian news agencies on Wednesday as saying the leaders had “largely agreed on steps that would be conducive to a ceasefire,” but repeated that Russia is not involved in the fighting.
Rebel leaders said earlier this week that they would respect Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for autonomy. The rebels previously have called for full independence for their regions or possible absorption into Russia. Poroshenko has spoken in favour of devolving some of the central government’s power to regions, but that is far short of autonomy for the rebel regions.
Over the weekend, the European Union leaders agreed to prepare a new round of sanctions that could be enacted in a week, after NATO accused Russia of sending tanks and troops into southeastern Ukraine. A NATO summit in Wales on Thursday is also expected to approve measures designed to counter Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, loud artillery explosions rocked the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
A Reuters correspondent in Donetsk said the blasts could be heard in the northwest of the city, home to about 1 million people before the conflict began, and dark grey smoke was billowing from an area near the city airport.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed nearly 2,600 people and forced over 340,000 to flee their homes, according to the UN.
With files from CBC News and Reuters
© The Associated Press, 2014
The Canadian Press
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