German, French leaders head for Moscow to press for Ukraine peace

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Asked by reporters in Paris on Friday how the talks went, Hollande said: "It's the first step." Merkel, back in Berlin, said it was unclear whether the meeting in Moscow would secure a ceasefire and whether there would be further talks.

Their initiative follows fierce fighting and territorial gains in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists since a peace blueprint was agreed in Belarus in September. The Ukrainian military reported that two more soldiers had been killed in the past 24 hours in the east, with 26 wounded.
A statement on Poroshenko's website said the sides had expressed the hope that "Russia had an interest in" a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The German, French and Ukrainian leaders had called for a quick ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign forces from Ukraine, the pull-back of heavy weapons and equipment, the closure of the border and the release of all prisoners, the statement on Poroshenko's website said.
Though details of the peace deal were under wraps, much might depend on whether Ukraine is being pressed to acknowledge existing front lines as the new negotiating reality - and whether Kyiv would accept this.
German government sources said on Thursday the key problem for resuming peace talks was that current front lines no longer tally with what was agreed at talks in Minsk, Belarus, last year.
One idea was that a new attempt at a ceasefire should take in the current front lines, which reflect rebel gains, without Kyiv having to give up its claim to these areas as part of the Ukrainian state.
German government sources continued to say however on Friday that the Minsk talks last September were still the basis for negotiations - the view also of Kyiv, France and the United States.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said on Thursday that Kyiv would not consider any peace plan that cast doubt on the nation's territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence.

The growing military pressure has shaken the Ukrainian economy and driven a debate over the possibility of the United States providing Kyiv's hard-pressed army with arms.
NATO says Russia has provided vital support to the rebels in the shape of weapons, funds and troops, something denied by Moscow.
Speaking after meeting Poroshenko in Kiev on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington supported diplomacy, but would "not close our eyes" to Russian tanks and troops crossing the border. U.S. President Barack Obama will decide soon whether to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons to fight the separatists, Kerry said.
www.belsat.eu/en, following Reuters

Love in Belarus/ Каханне па-беларуску

20 months of work, hundreds of letters and the fate of a young couple. The film describes a dramatic love story of Zmitser Dashkevich and Nasta Palazhanka, members of Belarusian youth organisation Young Front. In front of the cameras they read their letters – while serving their terms the youngsters sent more than a thousand letters to each other. After the 2010 post-election protests Zmitser and Nasta were thrown into jails. Zmitser was sentenced to two years of imprisonment; having spent a year in the KGB prison, Nasta received a suspended sentence...
Directed by Viachaslau Rakitski and Andrey Kutsila.

USA nekter å lukke øyene for russiske stridsvogner og soldater i Øst-Ukraina, sa utenriksminister John Kerry.

http://www.vgtv.no/#!/video/107798/kerry-om-krisen-i-ukraina

Full krig ved frontlinjen i Øst-Ukraina

TV 2s team i Øst-Ukraina, reporter Øystein Bogen og fotograf Aage Aune, var blant de første journalistene til å ta seg inn til frontlinjen ved den beleirede byen Debaltseve i ettermiddag. 

De kan melde om full krig.

– Det er en by som er preget av enorme ødeleggelser og stor lidelse blant sivilbefolkningen som fortsatt bor der, sier Øystein Bogen.

UKRAINSKE STYRKER: Det er stor kampaktivitet ved frontlinjen i Debaltseve i Øst-Ukraina. Foto: Aage Aune/TV 2

– Det skytes kontinuerlig. Først og fremst med artilleri fra ukrainsk side, og vi ser også at det kommer granater fra russisk side.

Ifølge tropper TV 2 har snakket med på stedet, er det i dag noe roligere kamper enn normalt.

– Det får oss jo til å spørre oss om hvordan det er ellers, når det skytes hvert 20. sekund i dag, sier Bogen.

Fikk rømme by

Tidligere i dag opplyste en pressetalsmann for de ukrainske regjeringsstyrkene at de var blitt enige med de russiske opprørerne om å opprette en «grønn korridor» like ved frontlinjen i Øst-Ukraina. 

Det betyr at de rundt 7000 innbyggerne i byen Vuhlehirsk skal få noen timer til å forlate området i fred. TV 2s kilder vet ikke hvor lenge denne humanitære våpenhvilen vil vare.

TV 2-TEAM: Fotograf Aage Aune og reporter Øystein Bogen.

Hjelpeorganisasjoner i området har lenge etterlyst et slikt tiltak.

Det bor fortsatt over fem millioner mennesker i krigsherjede områder i Øst-Ukraina, og den humanitære situasjonen er i ferd med å bli svært kritisk.

Mange har hverken mat eller strøm, og flere bor i jordkjellere for å beskytte seg mot krigen på overflaten.

Vi presentere fredsløsning

I ettermiddag vil Frankrikes president Francois Hollande og Tysklands forbundskansler Angela Merkel reise til Kiev for å presentere et forslag til fredsløsning i Ukraina.

Initiativet vil også bli lagt frem for Russlands president Vladimir Putin i Moskva i morgen.

Håpet er å få slutt på konflikten som har tatt livet av mer enn 5000 mennesker siden april i fjor.

USAs utenriksminister John Kerry kom i formiddag til Ukraina for å diskutere krisen med landets president, Petro Porosjenko.

Sterke krefter i den amerikanske kongressen og senatet mener USA nå må vurdere å sende våpenhjelp til ukrainske styrker i kampen mot de russisk-støttede gruppene.

Kilde:  http://www.tv2.no/2015/02/05/nyheter/ukraina/russland/6533970

The Ukraine Crisis: Withstand and Deter Russian Aggression

Konflikten i Ukraina

Nato bekrefter at det har vært russiske soldater inne i Ukraina ved flere anledninger de siste månedene. Den ukrainske presidenten Petro Porosjenko anslår tallet til 9000. Den siste tiden har det vært harde kamper ved Luhansk og Donetsk.




Les mer:  http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/1.11480927 

Leszek Balcerowicz: “Great ecoomist” Lukashenka drives Belarus to catastrophe

The Belarusian economy keeps afloat only due to Russia's billions.
It was said by 68-year-old Polish professor Leszek Balcerowicz, one of the world's most famous reformists, during a lecture in Kyiv, from-ua.com reports.
“Belarus had a good start. But then they elected Lukashenka, who is a 'great economist, and he said 'stop it, no more elections, we'll save on political expenses.' It has been continuing even today. We can hear that Belarus is a paradise, but those who say so don't remember how many billions of dollars were given by Russia. If it hadn't been for that money, a catastrophe would have happened long ago.
Belarus, like Turkmenistan, is almost a socialist country. Most plants are owned by the state. In all countries, in Poland too, such plants are controlled by politicians who appoint the executive officers they want. Such state-owned plants are bad if we speak about economic growth and living standards,” he noted.
Leszek Balcerowicz is one of the most prominent reformists in the world. He initiated and carried out radical reforms in Poland that made it one of the most successful countries in the EU. The Polish economy continued growing even during the crisis of 2008-2009.

Kilde.  http://charter97.org/en/news/2015/2/3/138080/