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| Ukraine crisis: Putin removes threat of military intervention after ceasefire | Ukraine crisis: Putin removes threat of military intervention after ceasefire |
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| Vladimir Putin has formally taken Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine off the table as separatist leaders agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Kiev in the region. | Vladimir Putin has formally taken Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine off the table as separatist leaders agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Kiev in the region. |
| Both the government and the rebels have accused each other of continuing to open fire after the ceasefire was agreed on Monday evening, but there did not appear to be any sustained fighting on Tuesday. | Both the government and the rebels have accused each other of continuing to open fire after the ceasefire was agreed on Monday evening, but there did not appear to be any sustained fighting on Tuesday. |
| The relative quiet boosted hopes the truce might hold as the region enters a difficult and uneasy period of negotiations aimed at stopping the violence that has left hundreds dead over the past two months. | The relative quiet boosted hopes the truce might hold as the region enters a difficult and uneasy period of negotiations aimed at stopping the violence that has left hundreds dead over the past two months. |
| Putin asked the upper house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday to revoke its ruling in March that Russia could use troops on Ukrainian territory. Cancelling the ruling, passed prior to the annexation of Crimea, is another sign that the Kremlin is attempting to de-escalate the situation, after weeks when Kiev had feared Russian troops massed close to the border could invade at any minute. | |
| Putin's spokesman told Interfax that the decision to cancel the order was given "in order to normalise and regulate the situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine, and due to the start of the three-way talks on the issue". | Putin's spokesman told Interfax that the decision to cancel the order was given "in order to normalise and regulate the situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine, and due to the start of the three-way talks on the issue". |
| Ukraine's new president, Petro Poroshenko, announced a unilateral ceasefire on Friday he said would last a week and give separatists a chance to flee or lay down their arms and receive amnesty, as long as they had not committed serious crimes. | Ukraine's new president, Petro Poroshenko, announced a unilateral ceasefire on Friday he said would last a week and give separatists a chance to flee or lay down their arms and receive amnesty, as long as they had not committed serious crimes. |
| Despite promising negotiations, few thought that Poroshenko would speak to the leaders of the self-proclaimed "people's republics" in the east, whom Kiev has branded "terrorists", but on Monday surprise talks took place in Donetsk, one of the centres of the rebel movement, between Poroshenko's representative, former president Leonid Kuchma, and separatist leaders. Also in attendance were an OSCE representative, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine and a pro-Russia Ukrainian politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is on the US sanctions list for his role in the annexation of Crimea, but who Putin has said should play a key role in any negotiations. | Despite promising negotiations, few thought that Poroshenko would speak to the leaders of the self-proclaimed "people's republics" in the east, whom Kiev has branded "terrorists", but on Monday surprise talks took place in Donetsk, one of the centres of the rebel movement, between Poroshenko's representative, former president Leonid Kuchma, and separatist leaders. Also in attendance were an OSCE representative, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine and a pro-Russia Ukrainian politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is on the US sanctions list for his role in the annexation of Crimea, but who Putin has said should play a key role in any negotiations. |
| After the meeting Alexander Borodai, the self-styled prime minister of the Donetsk people's republic, said the rebels would also agree to the ceasefire. Previously the insurgents had said there could be no talk of ceasefire until Ukrainian troops were withdrawn from east Ukraine, suggesting that the rebels, or those who control them, have decided to soften their stance. Borodai is a Russian citizen and was in Moscow for consultations in the days preceding the negotiations. | |
| Despite the promises of a ceasefire, distant shelling was still audible on Monday night in Slavyansk, the besieged rebel-controlled city that government forces have been shelling almost daily since the end of May. As usual, it was not entirely certain which side had begun the fighting, but government forces have had far more firepower at their disposal. | Despite the promises of a ceasefire, distant shelling was still audible on Monday night in Slavyansk, the besieged rebel-controlled city that government forces have been shelling almost daily since the end of May. As usual, it was not entirely certain which side had begun the fighting, but government forces have had far more firepower at their disposal. |
| "[Separatist] fighters are not ceasing to shoot at the positions of Ukrainian forces," Vladislav Seleznev, a spokesman for Ukrainian forces, said on his Facebook page on Tuesday, while the rebels accused the government troops of opening fire. | |
| Roman, the deputy commander of a frontline rebel base in the suburb of Andreyevka, said government forces had shot mortars and cannon at them at about 10pm. As proof, he pointed to three holes in the road outside the base that appeared to be from fresh shell impacts. He said the fighting had started when government snipers fired on them from inside a nearby factory. After his forces "cleaned out" the factory, the Ukrainians fired the ordnance, he added. | |
| The rebels in Andreyevka do not have tanks, artillery or mortars, he said, and a tour of the base revealed only four surface-to-air missiles, as well as an impromptu bomb shelter filled with stacks of cardboard to catch shrapnel. | The rebels in Andreyevka do not have tanks, artillery or mortars, he said, and a tour of the base revealed only four surface-to-air missiles, as well as an impromptu bomb shelter filled with stacks of cardboard to catch shrapnel. |
| "They're the ones who need an order to cease fire. We don't attack first. Who would we shoot? We're protecting the people here," Roman said. | "They're the ones who need an order to cease fire. We don't attack first. Who would we shoot? We're protecting the people here," Roman said. |
| Doubts remain whether a ceasefire can be enforced by either side. The rebel forces include a melange of different armed groups loyal to their direct commander, while volunteers from irregular battalions and recently assembled national guard units make up a large part of the pro-Kiev military operation. But the presence of Alexander Khodakovsky, the commander of the battle-hardened Vostok Battalion, and Valery Bolotov, the leader of the army of the south-east in Luhansk, suggested at the press conference where Borodai announced support for the ceasefire a consensus among rebel groups. | |
| Vladimir Inogorodsky, the spokesman for the self-declared Luhansk people's republic, said rebel forces there would honour the ceasefire but would return fire if they were attacked. | Vladimir Inogorodsky, the spokesman for the self-declared Luhansk people's republic, said rebel forces there would honour the ceasefire but would return fire if they were attacked. |
| During a visit to Semyonovka by the Guardian on Sunday, pro-Russian fighters in the village claimed government forces continued to attack without provocation. A rebel who goes by the nom de guerre Murmansk said Ukrainian forces had continued to fire mortars into the area even after Poroshenko announced the ceasefire late on Friday, but admitted that the shelling had grown far more infrequent. Reached on Monday evening, he said he had not heard of Borodai's ceasefire order. | During a visit to Semyonovka by the Guardian on Sunday, pro-Russian fighters in the village claimed government forces continued to attack without provocation. A rebel who goes by the nom de guerre Murmansk said Ukrainian forces had continued to fire mortars into the area even after Poroshenko announced the ceasefire late on Friday, but admitted that the shelling had grown far more infrequent. Reached on Monday evening, he said he had not heard of Borodai's ceasefire order. |
| "They started to shoot less. We don't shoot, we just wait," he said. | "They started to shoot less. We don't shoot, we just wait," he said. |
| The ceasefire came after an intense round of telephone diplomacy, with Putin speaking by telephone to the leaders of Germany, France and the US. Putin has been warned by western leaders that Russia faces a further round of sanctions if the crisis in eastern Ukraine continues to escalate, and although thousands of Russian troops in central Russia were put on high alert for drills over the weekend, the prospect of a genuine military intervention in eastern Ukraine appears to have receded. Putin travels to Austria on Tuesday, where the Ukraine issue is again likely to dominate his meetings. | The ceasefire came after an intense round of telephone diplomacy, with Putin speaking by telephone to the leaders of Germany, France and the US. Putin has been warned by western leaders that Russia faces a further round of sanctions if the crisis in eastern Ukraine continues to escalate, and although thousands of Russian troops in central Russia were put on high alert for drills over the weekend, the prospect of a genuine military intervention in eastern Ukraine appears to have receded. Putin travels to Austria on Tuesday, where the Ukraine issue is again likely to dominate his meetings. |