4 world leaders aim to hold Ukraine talks
Secretary of State John Kerry is denying that the United States and Europe are divided over how to respond to the crisis in Ukraine and how to deal with Russia's role in it. (Feb. 8) APGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel and Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine, greet each other after arriving at the 51st Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Feb. 7.(Photo: Johannes Simon, Getty Images)The leaders of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France are aiming to meet in Belarus to continue to work to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Sunday that preparations are underway for her to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and French President Francois Hollande in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Wednesday.Seibert said the decision follows an "extensive" phone call among the four leaders Sunday morning, during which further measures for a peace plan were discussed.He said the leaders had worked further on a package of measures "in the context of their efforts on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine."The aim is to draw up measures that breathe new life into a much-violated September peace plan. Seibert and the French government said preparations for the summit will take place in Berlin on Monday.They said there will also be a meeting in Minsk by Wednesday of the signatories to last September's accord, including Russia, Ukraine and representatives of separatists in eastern Ukraine."They (the leaders) expect that their efforts during the Minsk meeting will lead to the swift and unconditional cessation of fire by both sides," Poroshenko's office said in a statement.Putin also confirmed that a summit was being planned for Wednesday in Minsk, but said it might not come about."We will be aiming for Wednesday, if by that time we are able to agree on a number of the positions that we recently have been discussing intensely," he told journalists in Sochi during a meeting with the president of Belarus, Russian news agencies reported.Before the summit Merkel, who met Friday night in Moscow with Putin, is scheduled to meet with President Obama in Washington on Monday on a previously scheduled trip.Merkel's visit comes as Obama considers providing modern weapons to Ukraine. Poroshenko on Saturday asked Western leaders at the Munich Security Conference to push for a quick cease-fire and defensive weapons. Merkel has opposed sending weapons to the country.Merkel, Hollande and Putin agreed Friday during a meeting in Moscow to draft a peace plan for Ukraine based on ideas proposed by Putin and Poroshenko, but previous agreements have fallen apart even as the conflict has resulted in more than 5,300 dead.At the Munich conference, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. and its European allies are "united in our diplomacy" on Ukraine. He said the U.S. supports efforts by France and Germany to produce a new plan to end the conflict.Kerry denied that there is a U.S.-Europe rift over how to respond to the crisis and how to deal with Russia's role in it."There is no division, there is no split," Kerry said. "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together. We all agree that this challenge will not end through military force — we are united in our diplomacy."Reacting to the announcement of the proposed Minsk summit, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry will "remain closely engaged" as talks continue.Republican Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in Munich that "we must provide defensive arms to Ukraine."He said: "If we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country, how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening?"Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and government forces picked up in January after a month of relative calm.Ukraine, the U.S., NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have all accused Russia of supplying arms and equipment to the separatists. Russia wants the U.S. and the European Union to lift economic sanctions imposed to pressure it from meddling in Ukraine. Contributing: Oren Dorell, USA TODAY; Associated Press
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