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| Putin Commends Separatist Militias in Ukraine | Putin Commends Separatist Militias in Ukraine |
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| MOSCOW — In a rare direct address to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin hailed on Friday the success of a recent rebel offensive and asked that a humanitarian corridor be opened to allow encircled Ukrainian Army units to retreat. | MOSCOW — In a rare direct address to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin hailed on Friday the success of a recent rebel offensive and asked that a humanitarian corridor be opened to allow encircled Ukrainian Army units to retreat. |
| In an address to the “Novorossiya,” or New Russia, militia that was posted on the Kremlin website at 1:10 a.m., Mr. Putin said the rebels had “achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation,” an offensive that Western governments have accused the Russian military of leading. | In an address to the “Novorossiya,” or New Russia, militia that was posted on the Kremlin website at 1:10 a.m., Mr. Putin said the rebels had “achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation,” an offensive that Western governments have accused the Russian military of leading. |
| “I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life,” Mr. Putin said, “giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation.” | “I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life,” Mr. Putin said, “giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation.” |
| Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the rebel leader who said on Thursday that more than 3,000 Russians, including active soldiers on leave, had fought among the separatists, quickly agreed to Mr. Putin’s proposal. | Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the rebel leader who said on Thursday that more than 3,000 Russians, including active soldiers on leave, had fought among the separatists, quickly agreed to Mr. Putin’s proposal. |
| “With all respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of the country, which has helped us very much with moral support, we are ready to grant humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian divisions surrounded in these pockets,” Mr. Zakharchenko said. Conditions included the surrender of all heavy armaments and ammunition. | “With all respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of the country, which has helped us very much with moral support, we are ready to grant humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian divisions surrounded in these pockets,” Mr. Zakharchenko said. Conditions included the surrender of all heavy armaments and ammunition. |
| The separatist counteroffensive, which began on Wednesday, has opened a new military front along the Sea of Azov and put the rebels within striking distance of Mariupol, a port city that is the second-largest in Ukraine’s southeast. Separatist leaders also said they had encircled 7,000 regular and irregular Ukrainian troops who had been cut off by the rapid advance of rebel tanks and artillery. | The separatist counteroffensive, which began on Wednesday, has opened a new military front along the Sea of Azov and put the rebels within striking distance of Mariupol, a port city that is the second-largest in Ukraine’s southeast. Separatist leaders also said they had encircled 7,000 regular and irregular Ukrainian troops who had been cut off by the rapid advance of rebel tanks and artillery. |
| The offensive prompted fresh criticism from the West, and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said on Thursday that the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia would be discussed at a European Union summit meeting in Brussels on Saturday. In preparation for the summit meeting, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Milan on Friday to discuss the position of the 28-nation bloc. | The offensive prompted fresh criticism from the West, and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said on Thursday that the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia would be discussed at a European Union summit meeting in Brussels on Saturday. In preparation for the summit meeting, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Milan on Friday to discuss the position of the 28-nation bloc. |
| The dollar was trading at more than 37 rubles on Friday morning, a historical high that exceeded the spike after the March annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the 2008 financial crisis. | |
| Natalia Orlova, head economist for Alfa Bank, said that reports of a Russian military presence inside Ukraine, which would indicate the possibility of “a new round of escalation,” caused the rapid fall of the ruble on Thursday. | |
| “I think it’s all about sanctions,” Ms. Orlova said by telephone on Friday. “The market doesn’t perceive Russia as being a very active part of the military conflict, so the market, in other words, is not really pricing in Russian participation in the war. The market is just pricing the new round of sanctions.” | |
| A decision by the Russian central bank not to support the ruble had also made the drop more dramatic, she said. | |
| Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Mr. Putin of backing the rebels with arms, money and men, and have demanded that Russia use its influence over the separatists to put a stop to the fighting. Insofar as NATO and Western governments accused Russia on Thursday of having well over 1,000 active troops in Ukraine, it seemed unlikely that Mr. Putin’s curt and congratulatory statement would assuage anger toward him. | Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Mr. Putin of backing the rebels with arms, money and men, and have demanded that Russia use its influence over the separatists to put a stop to the fighting. Insofar as NATO and Western governments accused Russia on Thursday of having well over 1,000 active troops in Ukraine, it seemed unlikely that Mr. Putin’s curt and congratulatory statement would assuage anger toward him. |
| Ukrainian irregular troops, who primarily serve in volunteer battalions, have complained in recent days of receiving no military support in pockets of strong separatist resistance. Semyon Semenchenko, the head of the pro-Kiev Donbass battalion, whose forces have been pinned down for more than a week in the city of Ilovaysk, called on Facebook for protests at the army’s headquarters in Kiev. | Ukrainian irregular troops, who primarily serve in volunteer battalions, have complained in recent days of receiving no military support in pockets of strong separatist resistance. Semyon Semenchenko, the head of the pro-Kiev Donbass battalion, whose forces have been pinned down for more than a week in the city of Ilovaysk, called on Facebook for protests at the army’s headquarters in Kiev. |
| “We have been tricked once again,” Mr. Semenchenko wrote on Wednesday. “There will be no help today. Those responsible are the minister of defense and the commander of the ATO,” he wrote, using the shorthand for Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation against the rebels in the east. | “We have been tricked once again,” Mr. Semenchenko wrote on Wednesday. “There will be no help today. Those responsible are the minister of defense and the commander of the ATO,” he wrote, using the shorthand for Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation against the rebels in the east. |
| The Ukrainian news media also reported that the Transcarpathian battalion, another pro-Kiev group, had returned home to western Ukraine after its soldiers came under heavy artillery fire from Grad rockets. | The Ukrainian news media also reported that the Transcarpathian battalion, another pro-Kiev group, had returned home to western Ukraine after its soldiers came under heavy artillery fire from Grad rockets. |