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Ukraine crisis: Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande fly to Russia for peace talks - live
Leaders of Germany and France to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss new Ukraine peace plan, as pro-Russian separatists agree brief humanitarian truce with government forces around battleground east Ukrainian town of Debaltseve. Follow the latest developments
By Jessica Winch11:10AM GMT 06 Feb 2015
This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off
• Merkel and Hollande on mission to avert 'total war’
• Merkel's mission to Moscow could hardly be for higher stakes
• Putin could attack Baltic states warns former Nato chief
• How Ukraine conflict has claimed 5,000 lives
• 'Europe's problem is it is too civilised to take on Putin'
Latest
11.10 German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it is "totally open" on whether the talks this afternoon with Russian President Vladimir Putin will succeed. Speaking at a news conference this morning in Berlin she said:
Quote It is totally open as to whether we will, with these talks, succeed in achieving a ceasefire, we don't know if that will be achieved today, if perhaps further talks will be needed.
We don't know if we will have long or short talks in Moscow or if these will be the last talks. We can only do what we can to resolve this conflict and especially to end the bloodshed.
Mrs Merkel has spoken to Putin more than 40 times in the past year, but Friday will be the first time in the crisis that she has gone to Moscow.
10.52 Russia's ambassador to Paris says he wants to "believe" in the peace proposals, Henry Samuel reports:
Alexandre Orlov, Russia's ambassador to Paris, told Europe 1 that France and Germany must be the "guarantors" of the success of any ceasefire.
If the peace plan is adopted by all parties, he said, it must be "guaranteed by Europe, the US and Russia". He said he wanted to "believe" that the proposals would be a success.
10.27 French President François Hollande has changed his diary and is expected to take off for Moscow at 12.30pm (11.30am GMT), Henry Samuel reports from Paris.
09.37 You can read in full Tom Parfitt's analysis of the delicate deal Hollande and Merkel can offer Putin. Here is an extract:
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, flatly denies that Russian weapons or regular soldiers have entered Ukraine (he admits that volunteer fighters are allowed to cross) and cannot, therefore, sign any paper that guarantees the supply will stop.
What he can do is approve and allow proper monitoring of the Ukrainian-Russian border by a joint force from the two countries. That idea was also enshrined in the Minsk Protocol but promptly ignored.
Whether Mr Putin agrees to seal the border will probably depend on what degree of autonomy the rebel regions are offered, and what territory they are allowed to control. Bluntly, this will dictate the extent to which he can use the separatists to impede Ukrainian attempts to move towards Europe and Nato.
There have been hints that UN peacekeepers could play a monitoring role if a new peace deal is reached. Their introduction along the line of control between rebel and government forces would signal the creation of a new “frozen conflict” territory in Europe, much like Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, the de facto independent republics which Moscow employs to destabilise Georgia and Moldova.
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Leaders of Germany and France to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss new Ukraine peace plan, as pro-Russian separatists agree brief humanitarian truce with government forces around battleground east Ukrainian town of Debaltseve. Follow the latest developments
By Jessica Winch11:10AM GMT 06 Feb 2015
This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off
• Merkel and Hollande on mission to avert 'total war’
• Merkel's mission to Moscow could hardly be for higher stakes
• Putin could attack Baltic states warns former Nato chief
• How Ukraine conflict has claimed 5,000 lives
• 'Europe's problem is it is too civilised to take on Putin'
Latest
11.10 German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it is "totally open" on whether the talks this afternoon with Russian President Vladimir Putin will succeed. Speaking at a news conference this morning in Berlin she said:
Quote It is totally open as to whether we will, with these talks, succeed in achieving a ceasefire, we don't know if that will be achieved today, if perhaps further talks will be needed.
We don't know if we will have long or short talks in Moscow or if these will be the last talks. We can only do what we can to resolve this conflict and especially to end the bloodshed.
Mrs Merkel has spoken to Putin more than 40 times in the past year, but Friday will be the first time in the crisis that she has gone to Moscow.
10.52 Russia's ambassador to Paris says he wants to "believe" in the peace proposals, Henry Samuel reports:
Alexandre Orlov, Russia's ambassador to Paris, told Europe 1 that France and Germany must be the "guarantors" of the success of any ceasefire.
If the peace plan is adopted by all parties, he said, it must be "guaranteed by Europe, the US and Russia". He said he wanted to "believe" that the proposals would be a success.
10.27 French President François Hollande has changed his diary and is expected to take off for Moscow at 12.30pm (11.30am GMT), Henry Samuel reports from Paris.
09.37 You can read in full Tom Parfitt's analysis of the delicate deal Hollande and Merkel can offer Putin. Here is an extract:
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, flatly denies that Russian weapons or regular soldiers have entered Ukraine (he admits that volunteer fighters are allowed to cross) and cannot, therefore, sign any paper that guarantees the supply will stop.
What he can do is approve and allow proper monitoring of the Ukrainian-Russian border by a joint force from the two countries. That idea was also enshrined in the Minsk Protocol but promptly ignored.
Whether Mr Putin agrees to seal the border will probably depend on what degree of autonomy the rebel regions are offered, and what territory they are allowed to control. Bluntly, this will dictate the extent to which he can use the separatists to impede Ukrainian attempts to move towards Europe and Nato.
There have been hints that UN peacekeepers could play a monitoring role if a new peace deal is reached. Their introduction along the line of control between rebel and government forces would signal the creation of a new “frozen conflict” territory in Europe, much like Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, the de facto independent republics which Moscow employs to destabilise Georgia and Moldova.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
