NATO Ready to Welcome Putin’s Peace Plan for Ukraine Says Rasmussen

MOSCOW – NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed his readiness to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace plan for Ukraine in case it is genuine.

 “If recent statements from President Putin represent a genuine effort to find a political solution, I would welcome it, because that is exactly what we need, a constructive political process,” Rasmussen said during joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the course of NATO summit in Wales.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin outlined a seven-point plan for the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, calling on Kiev to withdraw troops from southeastern regions of the country and militia to cease military advances. The plan also includes proposals for an international monitoring force, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, a ban on the use of combat aircraft over urban areas, an exchange of prisoners in an “all for all” formula and direct repair-crew access to destroyed infrastructure in the war-ravaged areas.

The outlined plan will be further discussed at the meeting of contact group on Ukrainian reconciliation, comprising Russia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Ukrainian government and eastern Ukraine’s independence supporters. The meeting is to be held on September 5 in Belarussian capital, Minsk.

RIA Novosti

R.S