Ukraine peace talks delayed but ceasefire largely holds

DONETSK, Ukraine (UPDATED) – Planned peace talks between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels were postponed on Tuesday, December 9, but a ceasefire appeared to be largely holding along the frontline in the ex-Soviet country’s  war-shattered east. 

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said talks with the insurgents involving Russian and European envoys in the Belarussian capital Minsk had been delayed and would probably not be held until Friday.

“Today, nothing will happen. Consultations are continuing,” a foreign ministry spokesman told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But a ceasefire along the bloodied frontline in eastern Ukraine was apparently being respected early on Tuesday on what the government has dubbed “a day of silence.” 

AFP reporters said fighting in the main rebel-held city of Donetsk had stopped abruptly at dawn after a night of artillery exchanges, with only a single shell heard since then.

“On the initiative of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a ceasefire regime has been implemented on all positions of (government) forces,” said a statement on the Ukrainian military’s Facebook account on Tuesday. 

One rebel fighter stationed near the contested airport in Donetsk said the situation was “calm for the moment”. 

But his colleagues remained sceptical about the long-term prospects.

“I don’t believe in the ceasefire,” one told AFP. “Up to now, ceasefires have only meant a pause before even fiercer fighting resumes.”

Rebel commanders had earlier said they would not be ready to hold peace talks until later in the week.

“We will take part in the negotiations,” Donetsk separatist co-leader Denis Pushilin told AFP by telephone.

“But for them to be more successful, they must take place on Friday.”

The pro-Western Ukrainian leadership needs calm in the east so it can focus on long-delayed economic reforms to dig the country out of effective bankruptcy and open the way for more global aid.

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrives in Kiev on Tuesday to assess Ukraine’s implementation of deeply unpopular austerity measures it has demanded in return for $17 billion in emergency aid.

Tuesday’s “day of silence” across the war zone is due to be followed by a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line — should the separatists also put down their guns.

While observers wait to see if a ceasefire emerges, fighting has continued right up to the last moment. 

Local authorities on Monday reported the deaths of at least 12 civilians over a bloody weekend in which government forces and organised militias exchanged volleys of Grad rocket fire across the devastated industrial east.

Two civilians were reported dead and 10 injured from overnight shelling in Ukrainian areas on Tuesday. 

‘Must not stand’

The latest peace efforts come after an unprecedented level of criticism directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin from Germany.  

German Chancellor Angela Merkel – once one of Europe’s more moderate voices on Russian affairs – blamed the unrest on an increasingly isolated Kremlin trying to destabilise eastern Europe and prevent countries in the region growing closer to the EU.

She also defended the sanctions that Brussels and Washington have slapped on Russia for its alleged attempts to splinter its western neighbour in reprisal for the February ouster of a Moscow-backed president.

Russia has struck back by banning Western food imports and imposing other restrictions that have hurt European farmers and provoked a minor rebellion from businesses in countries such as France and Germany.

The diplomatic war of words and jostling for position has intensified as the prospect of new Ukrainian peace talks nears.

“The desire to rip (ex-Soviet republics) away from Russia has always been one of America’s top foreign policy priorities,” Russian Deputy Foreign Sergei Ryabkov told a Monday session of parliament.

“But since the start of the year, this desire has surfaced with renewed strength and in an especially aggressive manner,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.

‘Ukraine ready for silence’ 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak stressed that Kiev’s forces intended to halt fire on Tuesday even if the Minsk gathering was delayed for a few days.

“The Ukrainian armed forces are ready for silence,” he said during a joint press appearance with visiting Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson on Monday.

The Minsk negotiations are supposed to reinforce an earlier peace deal reached in the same city on September 5 that failed to halt the fighting. 

The United Nations says another 1,000 lives have been lost since — making many sceptical about the prospects of the latest peace efforts.

UN estimates put the total death toll from the eight-month conflict at more than 4,300. But the number of rebels killed has never been firmly established and some believe the true numbers are much higher. – Rappler.com