Ukraine declares Russia conditions ‘unacceptable’

Europe, News February 12, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Ukraine played down speculation about a possible ceasefire agreement over the conflict in the east of the country on Thursday, accusing Russia of imposing “unacceptable” conditions as marathon talks continued in Minsk.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko emerged from a break in the talks with leaders of Russia, France and Germany saying: “Unfortunately there’s no good news yet.”

“There are conditions that I consider unacceptable,” he said told AFP, without elaborating. He added “there’s always hope,” but said the “the process is ongoing.”

“We’re in non-stop talks, as you can see, the situation is very difficult, (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel and (French) President Francois Hollande are helping us a lot, but for now the situation is difficult.”

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Minsk peace negotiations became one of the longest in his political career, TASS reports. The importance of the talks was so great that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier decided to delay his departure to Brazil.

“The talks in Minsk are not easy and are continuing,” he said.

There were reports overnight of a possible deal from the talks in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. One source said there was hope agreement could be reached and another saying a document would be signed, according to news agencies.

But the document may be a joint declaration rather than a full agreement, and signed by lower-level envoys rather than the leaders themselves, said Reuters, quoting sources

The Kremlin press service said on Thursday that talks were continuing.

Any agreement would however be sent to a “contact group” that includes representatives of the pro-Russian rebels, whose involvement could be crucial, Reuters was told.

After almost 14 hours, the marathon talks appeared to have finished, with the leaders walking out of the conference hall. But minutes later it became apparent that it was just a short break in the tough negotiations.

“More time is needed” became the slogan used by participants of talks, as journalists waited outside.“There is progress, but it is not a simple conversation. More time is needed,” one source told Sputnik.

After the wider format talks involving full delegations concluded, Russia’s foreign minister left the deliberation room and said the talks were moving along “actively, better than super.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s senior foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, described the talks as “quite intensive.”

RT/TG/AJ