KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine began a tense countdown Monday to weekend elections as Russian President Vladimir Putin said troops deployed near the border with restive eastern Ukraine have been ordered home.
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine began a tense countdown Monday to weekend elections as the country’s richest man called for a massive peace rally in the tense eastern region and Russian President Vladimir Putin said troops deployed near the border have been ordered home.
Despite the announcement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance has “not seen any evidence at all that the Russians have started withdrawal of troops from the Ukrainian border.”
Despite Putin’s announcement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance has “not seen any evidence at all that the Russians have started withdrawal of troops from the Ukrainian border.”
Putin previously claimed that about 40,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border had been withdrawn, but the United States and NATO have insisted that they have seen no signs of that. Putin’s office issued a statement Monday morning saying the troops involved in “routine spring” exercises in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions have been ordered back to their barracks.
Putin previously claimed that about 40,000 Russian troops massed along Ukraine’s border had been withdrawn, but the United States and NATO have insisted that they have seen no signs of that. Putin’s office issued a statement Monday morning saying the troops involved in “routine spring” exercises in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions have been ordered back to their barracks.
In an interview Monday, Pavlo Sheremeta, Ukraine's economy minister, welcomed Putin's announcement, saying the current statement appeared to go further than the Russian leader's earlier declarations about withdrawing troops from the border. Sheremeta said he sensed what could be a shift in tone and, hopefully, in substance.
In an interview Monday, Pavlo Sheremeta, Ukraine’s economy minister, welcomed Putin’s announcement, saying it appeared to go further than the Russian leader’s earlier declarations about withdrawing troops from the border. Sheremeta said he sensed what could be a shift in tone and, hopefully, in substance.
“Is this credible? We shall see, but at even up until 10 days ago, all his declarations were much more hawkish,” he said.
“Is this credible? We shall see, but at even up until 10 days ago, all his declarations were much more hawkish,” he said.
Ukraine is due to go to the polls Sunday in historic presidential and mayoral elections that could affect the country’s very makeup and its alignment between the West and Russia. Tensions remained high in the troubled Donetsk and Luhansk regions near the country’s border with Russia.
Meanwhile, Rinat Akhmetov, whose coal mines, steel plants and other factories are the industrial might of the Donets Basin, said in a statement late Monday that he has asked all employees to stage a peaceful “warning protest” at their companies to send the message that a separatist rebellion endangers the region’s economy.
The front-runner in the presidential election is billionaire Petro Poroshenko, 48, widely known as the “chocolate king” for the fortune he made in the confectionery business. Poroshenko, who previously served in several top government posts, is leading in the polls, though he appears to be falling short of the absolute majority required to avoid a runoff on June 15.
Akmetov said he called for the noon demonstration Tuesday after intervening to halt employees’ plans to hold a massive peace rally in Mariupol on Monday. Akhmetov said he suspended Monday’s rally after he learned that unidentified gunmen had planned to shoot anyone who took part.
Pro-Russian militants, who have seized government buildings in eastern Ukraine and fought government troops in the industrial region, have said they will boycott the elections. They allege that recent chaotic referendums on self-rule in eastern Ukraine are valid. Kiev called the referendums a farce, and the West declared them illegal. Russia said their results should be respected.
Ukraine is set to go to the polls Sunday in historic presidential and mayoral elections that could affect the country’s very makeup and its alignment between the West and Russia. Tensions remained high in the troubled Donetsk and Luhansk regions near the country’s border with Russia.
On Saturday, the second round of national unity talks were held in the city of Kharkiv, allowing the more moderate representatives of the eastern region to air their grievances. Although the talks have shown little signs of a breakthrough, and pro-Russian militants are not attending, Western diplomats have hailed the process for putting the interim government and some of its domestic critics in one room.
Pro-Russian militants, who have seized administrative buildings in eastern Ukraine and fought government troops in the industrial region, have said they will boycott the elections. They allege that the recent chaotic referendums on self-rule in eastern Ukraine were valid. Kiev called the referendums a farce, and the West declared them illegal. Russia said their results — in favor of self-rule — should be respected.
Participants took turns venting, as they had in the first session last week, and expressing divergent views on live television. Easterners complained of Kiev’s high-handed treatment of their region, while officials of the interim government extended an olive branch, promising to address demands for decentralizing power by ceding more authority to regional capitals.
Kunkle reported from Donetsk. Abigail Hauslohner in Moscow and Griff Witte in London contributed to this report.
The transfer of some power is a key demand, particularly in the heavily ethnic Russian east. But just how to carry it out, as well as how much power to cede, are hotly debated.
The talks are aimed at de-escalating tensions in the east, but with the separatists not taking part, it remained unclear to what extent representatives from the east could influence the separatists to lay down their arms. The talks, backed by the European Union, are being held under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a Vienna-based body that includes European powers as well as the United States and Russia. Russia appears to be backing the effort.
Russia’s ties with the E.U. and NATO need a “rethink” after events in eastern Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday, Russian news agencies reported.
“These relations require a substantial rethink, and together with our partners from the E.U. and NATO nations, we are trying to conduct an analysis in order to better understand where we are, where our assessments coincide and where we disagree,” the state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.
Hauslohner reported from Moscow and Kunkle from Donetsk. Griff Witte in London contributed to this report.
