Vladimir Putin under pressure to denounce rival elections in Ukraine

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/17/vladimir-putin-elections-ukraine-eu-leaders-minsk-peace

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David Cameron and other EU leaders have urged the Russian president to criticise elections planned by separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine next month as a key sign of commitment to the fragile peace plan in the region.

At a meeting in Milan, Vladimir Putin“would not commit” to denouncing the rival polls being planned for 2 November by pro-Russian rebels, a Downing Street source said.

The elections planned by the leaders of the self-declared people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk became a sticking point at the meeting, at which concerns were also voiced over the ceasefire and simmering violence.

Putin met Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, for the third time alongside the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy and top EU officials on the sidelines of the Asem summit of Asian and European leaders.

Cameron said the breakfast meeting had been positive and that Putin had made it clear he did not want a frozen conflict or a divided Ukraine. But the British prime minister said EU sanctions would remain in place until Moscow showed it was fully behind the Minsk peace plan agreed last month.

“Russia now needs to take the actions to put in place all that’s been agreed: getting Russian troops out of Ukraine, getting heavy weapons out of Ukraine and respecting all the written agreements and only recognising one legitimate set of Ukrainian elections,” Cameron said.

“And if those things don’t happen then clearly the European Union, Britain included, must keep in place the sanctions and the pressure so that we don’t have this sort of conflict in our continent.”

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the dialogue had moved the parties “closer together on some questions of detail, but the central point is whether the territorial integrity of Ukraine is really respected”.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European council, reiterated the view of EU leaders that Russia must show willingness to implement the Minsk peace agreement. “The key word was implementation, implementation, implementation,” he said.

Germany, France and Italy were understood to have reiterated their desire to send drones to help monitor the Ukraine-Russia border. British and Italian sources described the breakfast as “frank”.

There were mixed messages from Russia, which continues to deny all reports of its military activity in Ukraine. Putin initially told reporters the meeting had been positive, but a Kremlin spokesman later said “certain participants” had taken an “absolutely biased, non-flexible, non-diplomatic” approach to Ukraine.

“The talks are indeed difficult, full of misunderstandings, disagreements, but they are nevertheless ongoing, the exchange of opinion is in progress,” the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

Despite the ceasefire struck on 5 September between Kiev’s forces and separatist rebels, violence has continued to flare in parts of eastern Ukraine. More than 3,000 people have died in the conflict.

Putin arrived at the 8am meeting on Friday hours after being seen leaving the Milan residence of his old friend, Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.