There is no reason for optimism - Germany on negotiations on Ukraine
Berlin - Kyiv, November 19 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Despite the cheerful reports and statements of Petro Poroshenko about successful negotiations with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whom he for some reason called Schmeinmeier on Twitter, the German Foreign Minister himself in an interview with Deutsche Welle "said about Ukraine that “there is no reason for optimism”.
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German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, one of the most powerful negotiators in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, said he saw no reason for optimism about the current standoff.
“There is no reason for optimism in the current situation,” Steinmeier said Tuesday during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
“What we have to do is work, work to convince people that the peace process that was started earlier cannot work on its own,” Steinmeier responded sadly.
Steinmeier is the first senior European minister to visit Moscow since July. On the eve of November 18, before leaving for Moscow, Steinmeier met with Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk in Kyiv.
In the Ukrainian capital, he called on all parties to adhere to the peace plan signed in Minsk in early September. Even though the plan has been thwarted several times, Steinmeier said it still offers a chance to stop the violence.
Steinmeier called for a dividing line to be established between government forces and rebels. This must be done as soon as possible to maintain peace.
“Even if the main commitments were not fulfilled, deviation from the agreements would be a huge loss,” Steinmeier said after meeting Lavrov in Moscow.
Lavrov spoke about Russian-German partnership, but emphasized the deep differences between Russia and the West. He called on Kyiv to take into account recent elections in rebel-held Luhansk and Donetsk. Kyiv and the West refused to recognize the results of these elections.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held several hours of fruitless talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia. Merkel said Russia's latest destabilizing political moves, particularly the annexation of Crimea, "challenge the peaceful order in Europe."
The discussions resumed after new NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russia on Tuesday of "serious military construction" in eastern Ukraine and Russia.
“We see movements of troops, equipment, tanks, artillery and also advanced air defense systems,” Stoltenberg said before holding talks with EU defense ministers in Brussels. He called on Russia to withdraw its troops.
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