A reluctant Ukrainian government agreed to launch discussions yesterday on giving more powers to the regions under a peace plan brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but it remains wary of engaging with pro-Russian insurgents who have declared independence in two eastern regions.
Acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was to chair the first in a series of round tables set to include national lawmakers, government figures and regional officials in line with proposals drafted by the OSCE, a top trans-Atlantic security and rights group that includes Russia and the US.
Russia has strongly backed the Swiss-drafted road map, but Ukraine has remained cool to the plan and US officials view its prospects for success skeptically.
Photo: Reuters
Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian insurgents seized administrative buildings, fought government forces and declared independence for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions after a controversial weekend referendum.
The Ukrainian government and Western powers have rejected the referendum as a sham.
Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Yatsenyuk thanked the OSCE for its plan, but said Ukraine has its own plan for ending the crisis and said the people of his country should settle the issue themselves.
Ukrainian forces have mounted an offensive against the armed insurgents, and dozens have died in the fighting across the east.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said six soldiers were killed by insurgents who ambushed a convoy near the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
Yesterday morning, journalists saw charred carcasses of a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier and a truck at the site of the clash.
The OSCE plan calls on all sides to refrain from violence and urges amnesty for those involved in the unrest, as well as talks on decentralization and the status of the Russian language. It envisages a quick launch of high-level round tables across the country bringing together national lawmakers and representatives of the central government and the regions.
The first round table set to be held in Kiev will include Ukraine’s former presidents, officials and lawmakers, but there has been no word about inviting rebels as the government has staunchly refused to talk to “separatists.”
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yevhen Perebiynis lamented that the OSCE deal does not specifically oblige Russia to do anything, saying that Moscow must be urged to stop sponsoring terrorists to de-escalate the conflict.
Russia has dismissed the accusations and assailed the Ukrainian authorities for their reluctance to hold talks with its opponents in the east before the May 25 presidential vote.
In Moscow, Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the lower house of Russian parliament, said that the Ukrainian authorities’ refusal to speak to its foes and the continuing military operation in the east will undermine the legitimacy of the presidential vote, but added that the failure to hold it would be even worse.
Moscow had previously called for postponing the presidential vote, saying it must be preceded by a constitutional reform that would turn Ukraine into a federation, but it has recently taken a more conciliatory stance, reflecting an apparent desire to ease the worst crisis.
However, the insurgents in Luhansk have already said they would not hold the balloting, and the leader of pro-Russian activists in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said they will use unspecified “means and methods” to prevent the vote from happening.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese