German and Ukrainian leaders call breakdown in eastern Ukraine ceasefire 'worrying' and 'barbaric.'

Record ID: 166500

  • Title: German and Ukrainian leaders call breakdown in eastern Ukraine ceasefire 'worrying' and 'barbaric.'
  • Date: 30th January 2017
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF GERMAN CHANCELLERY GERMAN, UKRAINIAN AND EUROPEAN UNION FLAGS GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MERKEL AND POROSHENKO ARRIVING AT PODIUM PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "In these years a close friendship has grown between our two countries. And I want to emphasise that this friendship has proven very valuable in the last two-and-a-half years. We want to build on this trusting relationship and support Ukraine substantially with advice and actions." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS POROSHENKO LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We will talk mostly about the implementation of the Minsk Agreement. In the last few hours we have been informed that the ceasefire does not exist. There are fallen soldiers and so I have to say that the security situation on the contact line is worrying. According to the United Nations more than 10.000 people have already died in this conflict and so it is very important that we do everything we can, using the foundations that we have,- in this case the Minsk Agreement - to move forward, even if this is proving very difficult." DELEGATES LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: "I would like to inform you that yesterday five Ukrainian servicemen died, 12 were wounded, today morning two more soldiers gave their lives defending the territorial integrity of our country and five were injured by (fire from) artillery weapons manned by Russian fighters which were deployed in residential areas of Donetsk and (inaudible) in order for the Ukrainian forces to be unable to open retaliatory fire." POROSHENKO TALKING AS MERKEL LISTENS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: "These are barbaric methods of war. We have immediately informed the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) of this attack, let me underscore that the Russian side did not react, neither to our questions nor to questions from the OSCE." MERKEL LISTENING MEDIA PAN FROM POROSHENKO TALKING, PAN TO HIS HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: "We are confident that today we need resolute action in order to urge the Russian side come to the negotiating table, to motivate the implementation of the Minsk agreement to the full and first and foremost the security aspect of the agreement, to stop the killing, especially civilian casualties, also in Donbass. This is simply not acceptable and our coordination today is of the highest importance." JOURNALISTS MERKEL AND POROSHENKO SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2017 14:24
  • Keywords: Germany Ukraine Merkel Poroshenko
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001619VZUV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday (January 30) called for 'resolute action' to stop the killing in the Donbass region.
    Poroshenko said five Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in fighting on Sunday (January 29) while Ukraine's military said on Monday the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in an offensive by pro-Russian separatists over the past two days had risen to seven.
    This is the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since mid-December.
    The clashes between Ukraine's military and the pro-Russian separatists coincide with U.S. President Donald Trump's call for better relations with Moscow that has alarmed Kiev while the conflict in its eastern region remains unresolved.
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a joint news conference with Poroshenko to emphasize Germany's support and close ties to Ukraine, calling the latest surge in violence, 'worrying.'
    The rebels began attacking government positions in the eastern front-line town of Avdiyivka on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. Five soldiers were killed and nine wounded on Sunday and two more were killed on Monday, they said.
    The separatist website DAN said on Monday shelling by Ukrainian troops had killed one female civilian and wounded three others in the rebel-held town of Makiyivka, south of Avdiyivka. The reports could not be independently verified.
    "These are barbaric methods of war. We have immediately informed the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) of this attack, let me underscore that the Russian side did not react, neither to our questions nor to questions from the OSCE...We are confident that today we need resolute action in order to urge the Russian side come to the negotiating table, to motivate the implementation of the Minsk agreement to the full and first and foremost the security aspect of the agreement, to stop the killing, especially civilian casualties, also in Donbass. This is simply not acceptable and our coordination today is of the highest importance," Poroshenko said, speaking ahead of talks with Merkel in Berlin.
    Merkel, who helped broker the Minsk ceasefire deal also called for all sides to work within the framework of the Agreement, 'even if this is proving very difficult.'
    Both sides accuse the other of violating a two-year-old ceasefire deal on a near-daily basis.
    Close to 10,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kiev first erupted in April 2014.
    Ukraine and NATO accuse the Kremlin of supporting the rebels with troops and weapons, which it denies. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict, as well as for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
    Ukraine is anxious that international resolve to hold Russia to account may waver following the election of Trump, who has spoken of possibly lifting sanctions against Moscow.
    Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday and the two men agreed to try to rebuild strained ties and to cooperate in Syria.
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