Vladimir Putin yg telah melahirkan harapan bahawa perjanjian gencatan senjata baru di timur Ukraine akan dicapai tidak lama lagi. Komen beliau datang selepas mengadakan perbincangan dengan Francois Hollande yang mem-buat lawatan tidak berjadual pendek ke Moscow untuk membincangkan konflik.
Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas mesyuarat itu, Putin berkata walaupun kedua-dua pihak dalam konflik di Ukraine tidak memenuhi semua tanggungjawab mereka, keadaan di sana memberi harapan utk penambahbaikan pada masa akan datang.
Kedua-dua Paris dan Moscow bersetuju mengenai keperluan untuk "akhir serta-merta kpd pertumpahan darah," kata Putin. Beliau menggesa Kiev utk menarik balik dengan segera meriam dan pelancar roket berganda dari sempadan dengan wilayah Donbass itu.
"Keadaan [di Ukraine] adalah tragis, kita dapat melihat bahawa orang masih mati di sana, tetapi saya amat berharap dalam masa terdekat keputusan muktamad terhadap gencatan senjata itu akan dibuat," katanya.
Rusia menjangkakan Kiev untuk mengecualikan mana-mana kemungkinan sekatan bagi timur Donetsk dan Lugansk republik, beliau menambah: "Jika tidak, ia adalah sukar untuk membayangkan integriti wilayah Ukraine Rusia, seperti yang anda tahu, menyokong integriti wilayah Ukraine"
"Rusia memulakan mesyuarat itu [antara Kiev dan wakil-wakil republik timur] di Minsk, dengan penyertaan langsung kami protokol ini telah ditandatangani, jadi kami menyokong pelaksanaan penuh mereka," Putin dihuraikan.
PUTIN Sees HOPE for New PEACE Deal IN E. UKRAINE . . .
Vladimir Putin has expressed the hope that a new ceasefire deal in eastern Ukraine will be reached soon. His comment comes after talks with Francois Hollande who made an unscheduled short visit to Moscow to discuss the conflict.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Putin said that while both sides in the Ukrainian conflict are not fulfilling all their obligations, the situation there gives hope for improvement in the near future.
Both Paris and Moscow agree on the need for an “immediate end to the bloodshed," Putin said. He called on Kiev to promptly withdraw its artillery and multiple rocket launchers from the border with the Donbass region.
“The situation [in Ukraine] is tragic, we can see that people are still dying there, but I very much hope that in the near future a final decision on the ceasefire will be made,” he said.
Russia expects Kiev to exclude any possibility of a blockade of the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk republics, he added: "Otherwise it is difficult to imagine the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Russia, as you know, supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine."
“Russia initiated the meeting [between Kiev and representatives of the eastern republics] in Minsk, with our direct participation these protocols were signed, so we support their full implementation,” Putin elaborated.
Seorang penduduk di daerah Azotny membersihkan kawasan sekitar serangan rumahnya berikut yang mengor-bankan seorang budak lelaki berusia 12 tahun dan seorang wanita berusia 55 tahun, Donetsk, Ukraine (A residents of Azotny district clears the area around his house following shelling which killed a 12-year-old boy and a 55-year-old woman, Donetsk, Ukraine (RIA Novosti)
Sementara itu, Presiden Ukraine Petro Poroshenko mengumumkan satu pusingan baru rundingan antara Kiev dan wakil-wakil republik timur akan berlangsung pada hari Selasa. Rundingan akan memberi tumpuan kepada jadual yg bersetuju utk melaksanakan langkah-langkah yang perlu diambil di bawah protokol Minsk ini. Ia tidak pasti sama ada Hollande dan Putin telah merujuk kepada ceramah semalam ketika berucap di Moscow. Tarikh yang dicadangkan bagi ceramah bertepatan dengan apa yg dipanggil "Hari yg Sepi", apabila kedua-dua belah konflik berikrar untuk mematuhi gencatan senjata.
Hollande membuat ‘stop’ yang tidak dijangka dalam Vnukovo-2 Lapangan Terbang di Moscow kerana dia mengembara dari jiran Kazakhstan ke Perancis pada hari Sabtu.
"Saya telah terbang ke atas Moscow dan membuat keputusan untuk berhenti di sini untuk membincangkan isu-isu yang paling penting yang berkaitan dengan krisis Ukraine dan untuk semua penderitaan yang berpunca daripada itu untuk Ukraine, untuk Kesatuan Eropah dan Rusia juga," kata Hollande .
Putin mengalu-alukan rakan sejawatannya dan mengucapkan terima kasih kepadanya untuk lawatan itu, berkata bahawa ia "pasti akan memberi manfaat kepada resolusi banyak masalah."
Pemimpin Perancis berkata beliau tdk sabar-sabar utk meneruskan perbincangan itu bermula pada G20 di Australia dan di 3-cara mesyuarat antara dirinya, Putin dan Canselor Jerman Angela Merkel semasa sambutan D-Day di Perancis.
"Pada 6 Jun kita berbincang mengenai keperluan untuk mencari penyelesaian, untuk bekerja bersama-sama. Kami telah berbincang dengan Angela Merkel. Kami percaya bahwa Rusia dan Perancis akan dpt mencari penyelesaian yg diperlukan, "katanya. "Saya percaya pada masa tertentu, ia adalah perlu untuk mengatasi halangan-halangan, dinding, yang boleh memisahkan kita, dan saya percaya kami boleh melakukan ini."
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko announced a new round of talks between Kiev and representatives of the eastern republics will take place on Tuesday. The negotiations will focus on agreeing a schedule for the implementation of the measures to be taken under the Minsk protocol. It is not certain whether Hollande and Putin were referring to Tuesday’s talks when speaking in Moscow. The proposed date of talks coincided with the so-called “Day of Silence”, when both sides of the conflict vowed to observe a ceasefire.
Hollande made an unexpected stop in Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 airport as he traveled from neighboring Kazakhstan to France on Saturday.
"I was flying over Moscow and made a decision to stop over here for discussing the most significant issues related to Ukraine's crisis and to all the sufferings stemming out of it for the Ukrainians, for the European Union and for Russia as well," Hollande said.
Putin welcomed his counterpart and thanked him for the visit, saying that it “certainly will benefit the resolution of many problems.”
The French leader said he was eager to continue the discussion started at the G20 in Australia and at the three-way meeting between himself, Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during D-Day celebrations in France.
“On June 6 we talked about the need to find solutions, to work together. We’ve talked with Angela Merkel. We believe that Russia and France will be able to find the necessary solution,” he said. "I believe at some moment it is necessary to overcome the obstacles, the walls, which may separate us, and I believe we can do this."
Mistral-kelas serangan kapal perang (The Mistral-class assault warship (AFP Photo/Georges Gobet)
BACA lebih lanjut: Kelewatan penghantaran 'Mistral' menyebabkan 'kos yang ketara' Perancis READ MORE: Delay in ‘Mistral’ deliveries causing France ‘significant cost’
Ketegangan antara Rusia dan Perancis telah meningkat sebagai mana Perancis telah datang di bawah untuk membatalkan penghantaran Mistrals, kapal serangan amfibia helikopter yang membawa, untuk Moscow terhadap krisis Ukraine.
Hasilnya, pada akhir November Hollande memutuskan untuk menggantung penghantaran kapal yang pertama itu "sehingga diberitahu kelak".
Moscow menggesa Perancis utk memenuhi perjanjian dgn pegawai tertinggi ber-pangkat menambah Rusia akan mendakwa Perancis harus kapal tidak diserahkan pada semua. Perancis menghadapi denda berbilion dolar, jika ia gagal menye-rahkan di bawah kontrak. Kelewatan penghantaran kapal-kapal perang 'telah dilaporkan melibatkan kos tambahan untuk Perancis.
Pada hari Sabtu, Putin berkata kedua-dua pemimpin tidak berkata-kata tentang kelewatan seperti hasil Moscow daripada fakta bahawa kontrak itu akan dipenuhi. Jika tidak Rusia menjangkakan pampasan penuh dari Perancis, katanya.
Tensions between Russia and France have been on the rise as Paris has come under to annul delivery of Mistrals, helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ships, to Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis.
As a result, in late November Hollande decided to suspend the delivery of the first such ship "until further notice".
Moscow has urged Paris to fulfill the agreement with top-ranking officials adding Russia will sue France should the ship not be delivered at all. France is facing a multibillion dollar fine, if it fails to deliver under the contract. The delay of the warships’ delivery has reportedly entailed additional costs for Paris.
On Saturday, Putin said that the two leaders did not speak about the delay as Moscow proceeds from the fact that the contract will be fulfilled. Otherwise Russia expects full compensation from France, he added.
