A nine-page peace plan proposed by Putin in mid-January could be the basis for the initiative the French and German leaders are coming to Moscow with, Western media reports.
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande reworked Putin’s peace plan
having taken out suggestions the EU and Ukraine were most opposed
to, Western diplomatic sources told AP.
The new text is said to contain the promise of more autonomy for
the rebel-held eastern Ukraine areas, and more protection for the
Russian language and culture.
Apart from more powers, the breakaway eastern Ukrainian regions could be offered extra territory, taking into account the land gains of 1,500 square kilometers (around 600 square miles) the rebels have made since the last peace agreement struck in Minsk in September, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports, claiming knowledge of the plan’s details.
German officials have, however, denied reports of offers of territorial concessions being part of the peace talks agenda.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande
were in Kiev on Thursday and are now coming to Moscow in a
surprise effort to come up with a solution to the Ukrainian
crisis. The details of the initiative have not been officially
disclosed.
READ MORE: Merkel, Hollande, Putin to discuss end
to Ukraine's civil war at Moscow talks
Hollande and Merkel’s unexpected push for peace coincided with the US secretary of state’s visit to Kiev. John Kerry had possible weapons supplies on his agenda.
While he said the simultaneous visits of the three leaders were a
sign of their unified stance on Ukraine, Brian Becker, director
of Anti-War Answer Coalition believes otherwise.
“You can see Merkel and Hollande going first to Kiev and then
to Moscow. This is not being done under the direction of John
Kerry and the United states,” Becker told RT. “I think
the US is concerned that Europe can take an independent path away
from the Unites States, in other words away from the NATO
alliance in defense of their own national interests.”
On Thursday John Kerry didn’t exclude the possibility of the US
supplying Kiev with lethal weapons.
"The president is reviewing all of his options, among those
options is the possibility of providing defensive systems to
Ukraine," Kerry told journalists.
European defense ministers that same day spoke clearly against
sending weapons to Ukraine.
#Hollande, #Merkel go to Moscow to discuss #Ukraine without consulting US – report http://t.co/7ekCC4uTphpic.twitter.com/2LpyyVrXdk
— RT (@RT_com) February 6, 2015
“I think the hardliners here are in Washington DC within the
US State Department, within the neo-Conservatives, amongst the
Pentagon,” Becker said. “They more than the so-called
European allies in NATO are the ones that have been promoting the
possibility of arming Ukraine. The European governments, even
while acting as US allies, are more circumspect, more aware of
the dangers to themselves and to their own economies.”
The term "defensive weapons," used by Kiev and
Washington is a misleading one, according political analyst,
Chris Bambery.
“I’d like to know what defensive weapons are,” he told
RT. “I mean what’s the difference between offensive and
defensive weapons. We are seeing a very confused situation,
because there’s welcoming the ceasefire…there’s welcoming of the
arrival of Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel in both Kiev and
Moscow, but we also see NATO suddenly announce it’s going to be
setting bases in eight NATO countries bordering the former Soviet
Union.”
READ
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in Eastern Europe
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, who met Kerry on
Thursday evening, vigorously insisted there were Russian troops
fighting in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s
republics. His assertion echoed Kerry’s earlier allegations of
“Russian soldiers and Russian tanks” crossing the border with
Ukraine.
"It seems to me the only country that strongly denies there
are Russian boots on the ground is the Russian Federation and
President Putin," Yatsenyuk said, according to Reuters.
"If they need it, I can give them my glasses. We are not
fighting with so-called rebels or guerrillas, we are fighting the
Russian regular army."
However, both Kerry’s and Yatsenyuk’s statements contradict last
week’s statement by Ukraine’s military chief of staff Viktor
Muzhenko.
“We are not militarily engaged with any regular forces of the
Russian federation,” he said.
Moscow has asked in vain for evidence of it being militarily
involved in the conflict and has blamed the West for making
unfounded accusations.
“Well, I think the truth is there probably are Russian
nationals involved in fighting with the People’s republic of
Donetsk,” Bambery says. “But I don’t think there’s
evidence Russian forces have crossed the border and are
interfering. And I think if there was any evidence, the
Americans, who are obviously keeping this region under very tight
surveillance, if they had that evidence they would have released
that evidence immediately. Because they are desperately trying to
show that the Russian people are to blame for this and that
Vladimir Putin is to blame for this.”