Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said after his meeting in Brussels today with the EU Council President Donald Tusk, via Brussels correspondent @RikardJozwiak:
"It's in our joint interest to deploy peacekeepers, and this is the initiative that was launched by the Ukrainian President [Petro Poroshenko] and the Ukrainian government, and we expect that our European friends will support this idea because everyone wants to get peace in Europe. And one of the tools to reach to this peace is to deploy peacekeepers."
"I strongly reject any debates on easening of sanctions. What we can talk about, we can talk about the roll-over and the way how to scale up sanctions in case if Russia is not eager to implement the Minsk deal. Because look, what is the success of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin? What is the formula of Russian stability? This is instability in the EU and if Putin splits the unity among EU member states and among the leaders of the EU member countries, this will be the biggest success story of President Putin and this will be the disaster for the free world."
Good morning. Here is the main news wrap this morning:
Biden, Poroshenko Agree Russia Sanctions Must Be Linked To Minsk Deal Implementation
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have agreed that the future of sanctions against Russia must be linked to the full implementation of a peace agreement reached last month in Minsk.
The White House said Biden spoke with Poroshenko by phone on March 18.
"As long as Russia continues to fuel violence and instability in Ukraine, the international community must be prepared to increase the costs to Russia for pursuing such actions," it said in a statement.
Biden also welcomed the Ukrainian parliament vote on March 17 to confer special status on rebel-controlled eastern regions and grant them limited self-rule, but only after local elections are held under Ukrainian law.
Russia and the rebels reject that condition. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on March 18 that the Ukrainian parliament had sought to "rewrite" the agreement reached on February 12 in the Belarusian capital.
In Kyiv, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that no one on the Ukrainian side had much optimism that Russia "and the terrorists" would readily fulfill the Minsk plan.
Poroshenko signed the "special status" legislation on March 18.
The White House said President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone call on March 18.
The two leaders again agreed that there will be no easing of sanctions on Russia over its support for Ukrainian separatists until it has fulfilled all of its commitments under the Minsk agreement.
At a March 19-20 meeting in Brussels, European Union leaders could decide whether to extend sanctions targeting Russia's banking and oil sectors through December, when a key provoision of the Minsk deal is to take effect.
An EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL that European Council President Donald Tusk is working with Germany and France on a proposal suggesting a decision should be made this month.
But diplomats said some countries, including Greece, Austria, and Slovakia, want to wait and make a decision in June, when some of the sanctions come up for renewal.
The Minsk deal calls for restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border with Russia in rebel-held areas by the end of the year under certain conditions.
Granting "special status" is part of a series of measures agreed to in the Minsk deal, which was brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in talks with Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It also established a cease-fire starting on February 15 and called for the withdrawal of heavy weapons far behind front lines in the conflict, which has killed more than 6,000 people since April 2014.
Fighting has decreased sharply but persists, with each side accusing the other of violations and Kyiv expressing concern the separatists may be using the truce to regroup for possible further offensives.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on March 18 that one serviceman was killed and five were wounded in rebel attacks over the previous 24 hours.
"The enemy continues to strengthen covertly its groups near the separation line between opposing forces," Lysenko said in a televised briefing.
This ends our live-blogging for March 18. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
On March 10, Fyodor Mozgovoy – who commands LNR’s ‘Phantom’ unit and enjoys a cult status among Russian volunteers fighting on the rebel side in Ukraine – made a remarkable statement. Asked about fascism in Ukraine, he said:
“My dears, there is no fascism. The anti-fascist movement is… Well, it’s like with computers, understand? There virus and there is antivirus. The Virus is created by the same person who creates the anti-virus. It’s all business, pure business. You can create a surge and then create a counter-surge. You gain from the both”.
I think it’s a great metaphor because it worked so well a year ago.
I the wee hours on February 23, 2014 Putin told his entourage it was time to “return” Crimea. The operation began.
Later on that day the ultra-nationalist Svoboda party managed to convince the Ukrainian parliament to vote for the annulment of a law that gave a special status to regional languages, of which the by far most important is Russian.
The next day the self-proclaimed “social-nationalist” Ihor Mosiychuk, now an MP, threatened to send right-wing militants to pacify the restive Sevastopol in what he called a “friendship train” – a reference to a similar action in 1992.
The decision on the language law hasn’t been approved by the acting presented Oleksandr Tourchinov (neither it has been annulled), while the “friendship train” never materialized. But these two acts provided crucial ammunition for Kremlin’s propaganda. Within hours, both stories became viral in the offline world of ordinary Russian-speakers in Crimea and Donbass. They can certainly be blamed for their susceptibility to manipulation. But the result was achieved.
Participants in the large rally held in Sevastopol at the time, were telling me there was no thought about rising up against Ukraine until the news broke about the law and Mosiychuk’s threat. Talk to anyone in Crimea now – they will say nothing would have happened without these acts.
Like two brilliant strikers who have played on the same team forever, the Kremlin and the radical Ukrainian nationalists cut through the thin defence at a lightning speed and scored. It was the culmination of a long lasting partnership, or rather symbiosis. Like between a virus and an antivirus.
Hundreds of bodies are being buried in eastern Ukraine without being identified. On the separatist side, officials say they don't have the resources to cope with the sheer volume of bodies – which we found lining the corridors at the central morgue in Donetsk. A special report by Shahida Yakub for RFE/RL's Current Time (www.currenttime.tv)
