Kremlin Trio Meeting on Ukraine Constructive – Russia

A high-profile meeting between leaders of Russia, Germany, and France on the crisis in east Ukraine has seen constructive negotiations, officials in Moscow say, Press T.V reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that talks in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande have been constructive.

The talks were “constructive, informative and substantive,” Peskov said after the five-hour meeting finished in Kremlin late Friday.

Peskov also said that the leaders have agreed on elaborating a joint document on how to implement Minsk protocol, a truce deal signed in September which has been repeatedly violated by the warring sides of the Ukrainian conflict.

“On the basis of proposals made by the French President and German Chancellor, there is currently ongoing joint work to prepare the text of a possible joint document on the implementation of the Minsk agreements a document that would include proposals made by Ukrainian President Poroshenko and proposals put forward today by Russian President Putin,” Peskov said.

The Russian official said that the final document will be submitted to both the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian forces that are battling each other in east Ukraine.

Sources in France and Germany have also welcomed the results of the much-anticipated negotiations as positive and meaningful. According to the latest reports, Merkel and Hollande have departed Moscow for their capitals.

However, much remains to be known from the lengthy talks on Friday as journalists were given only 30 seconds to take pictures of the three influential leaders who sat face-to-face in Kremlin and discussed the complicated issue in secrecy.

International efforts to forge a truce in east Ukraine have failed so far with Western governments accusing Russia of supporting the armed militancy against the Ukrainian government. Moscow denies the charges, saying Kiev must stop the suppression of the ethnic Russian population in the area.

Russia has already been hit by several rounds of Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine, although the restrictive measures have backfired on the economy of the European countries.

German Defense Minister warns against arming Ukraine troops

Meanwhile, the German defense minister has warned that arming Ukrainian soldiers to help them fight pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine would only inflame the crisis in the country.

“Are we sure that we would be improving the situation for the people in Ukraine by delivering weapons?” Ursula von der Leyen asked during the 51st Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.

The remarks from von der Leyen underlined an emerging rift between Europe and the United States about how to tackle the conflict.

Under pressure from some members of the Congress, US President Barack Obama is reviewing whether to provide the Ukrainian government with lethal weapons to confront the pro-Russians.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Von der Leyen reiterated the view in most of the European capitals, including Berlin, Paris and London, that there can be no military solution to the West’s dispute with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

She made the comments as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande started talks in the Russian capital city of Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to find a way to end the deadly conflict.

R.S