That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, February 16, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Poroshenko Accuses Russia Of 'World Hybrid War'
By RFE/RL
MUNICH -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Russia is waging a “world hybrid war” and is urging the West to increase pressure on Moscow over its expansionism in Ukraine.
Poroshenko’s comments came in a fiery February 16 speech at the annual Munich Security Conference that brings together world leaders and top officials.
He said that Russia’s 2014 seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine is transforming into a broad offensive against liberal democratic values in the West.
Poroshenko accused Moscow of supporting both ultraleft and ultraright parties around the world and deploying “armies” of Internet trolls to spread disinformation to sow discord in Ukraine and the West.
He urged the international community to ratchet up sanctions on Moscow if it fails to leave Crimea and fully commit to an internationally brokered peace deal to halt the war between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine.
“Sanctions are working,” Poroshenko, speaking in English, told the audience.
The stalemate in Ukraine is a key focus at the three-day Munich conference that kicked off on February 16.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were set to hold talks on the sidelines of the conference and were expected to discuss a possible UN peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine.
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BREAKING: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Russia is waging a “world hybrid war” and is urging the West to increase pressure on Moscow over its expansionism in Ukraine.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Ukrainian FM To Tell Lavrov To 'Rein In' Russia-Backed Separatists
By RFE/RL
MUNICH -- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says he will tell his Russian counterpart that Moscow must “rein in” separatists it backs in eastern Ukraine when they meet on the sidelines of a high-profile security conference.
Klimkin’s comments to reporters on February 16 came on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and ahead of his planned meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“I will tell Lavrov that they must rein in their separatist administration," Klimkin said.
The war between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces will be a prominent topic at the three-day conference, which kicked off February 16 and is set to feature world leaders and other top officials.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was scheduled to deliver remarks to the conference later on February 16.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Klimkin would meet in Munich on the same day.
Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said earlier that a meeting of the so-called Normandy Format -- consisting of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine -- would be held on the sidelines of the conference in efforts to halt the fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine.
Klimkin told reporters in Munich that he would raise the issue of Ukrainian “political prisoners” held by Russia during their bilateral meeting because the issue falls outside the scope of the Normandy Format.
He added that the two diplomats would also discuss a possible international peacekeeping mission to end the war in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,300 since April 2014.
With reporting by Current Time TV
Nine Ukrainian political parties have demanded that Mikheil Saakashvili be allowed to return to Ukraine: