Merkel, Hollande, Putin to discuss end to Ukraine's civil war at Moscow talks

 

Published time: February 05, 2015 10:24
Edited time: February 05, 2015 17:34

France's President Francois Hollande (R) talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Reuters / Daniel Dal Zennaro)

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The French president and the German chancellor are set to visit Moscow on Friday after a trip to Kiev, in order to find a peaceful solution to the escalating violence in Ukraine, the Kremlin has confirmed.
“I can confirm that indeed tomorrow [Friday] Putin, Merkel and Hollande will have talks. The leaders of the three states will discuss what specifically the countries can do to contribute to speedy end of the civil war in the southeast of Ukraine, which has escalated in recent days and resulted in many casualties,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The leaders of Germany and France will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev on Thursday and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.
"Together with Angela Merkel we have decided to take a new initiative," Hollande told a news conference. "We will make a new proposal to solve the conflict which will be based on Ukraine's territorial integrity."
“Along with Angela Merkel we thought we have certain responsibilities: Germany because it has strong economic relations with Eastern Europe, it has ties with Ukraine and Russia; Why France? Because France has historic, cultural, human, political and also economic links with Russia,” he stressed.
The two European leaders decided Wednesday night on the trip and did not consult American officials about it, AP reports citing a senior French official.
READ MORE: Constant shelling in Donetsk as peace talks in Minsk end in blame game
"In view of the escalating violence in recent days, the chancellor and President Hollande are intensifying their efforts, which have been going on for months, for a peaceful settlement to the conflict in eastern Ukraine," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
According to Hollande, the joint initiative of France and Germany is aimed at producing a text “acceptable to all,” as"diplomacy can't go on forever." The French president also said that France is not in favor of Ukraine joining NATO.
President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold constructive talks with Hollande and Merkel, said the Russian leader's senior foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, calling the upcoming meeting “a positive step.” He added that Kremlin hoped that the leaders of France and Germany would consider measures recently proposed by Putin.
“We are ready to hold a constructive discussion, with a view to reaching any agreements that would encourage a general stabilization of the situation, establishment of direct contacts between official representatives of Kiev and Donbass,” Ushakov told reporters.