British Prime Minister Theresa May talking about the U.K.'s foreign policy -- and mentions Ukraine and Russia -- after Brexit in an address at the annual Munich Security Conference.
"So as we leave the EU and forge a new path for ourselves in the world, the U.K. is just as committed to Europe security in the future as we have been in the past. Europe's security is our security and that is why I've said and I say again today: that the United Kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining it."
"As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as a leading contributor to NATO, and as America's closest partner we have never defined our global outlook primarily through our membership of the European Union or by a collective European foreign policy. So upon leaving the EU it is right that the U.K. will pursue an independent foreign policy, but around the world the interest that we will seek to protect and defend will continue to be rooted in our shared values. That is true, whether fighting the ideologies of Daesh, developing a new global approach to migration, insuring the Iranian nuclear deal is properly pleased, or standing up to Russia's hostile actions whether in Ukraine, in the Western Balkans, or in cyberspace."
"Last year's NotPetya cyberattack showed what we also need to work closely to defend our interests in cyberspace. This reckless attack, which the U.K. and partners have attributed to Russia, disrupted organizations across Europe costing hundreds of millions of pounds. To contend with truly global threats such as this we need a truly global response with not only the U.K. and EU, but industry, government, like-minded states, and NATO -- all working together to strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaking on February 17 to reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"In order for a full-scale mission of peacekeepers to be established in Ukraine, to ensure the return of [occupied] territories to Ukrainian sovereignty, only one thing is needed: to press Russia to do this."
"In order to deliver the security component of the Minsk agreements, the most realistic step is the introduction of a peacekeeping mission."
"Peacekeepers have the right to disarm the illegal armed groups. Peacekeepers should ensure the absence of foreign troops in the occupied territory."
President Poroshenko says the most important thing for Ukrainians in facing Russian aggression is to stay united:
President Poroshenko says that more than a dozen companies have indicated an interest to take part in the reorganization of Ukraine's natural gas transport system:
A follow-up story from RFE/RL's correspondent on that news alert from Munich:
MUNICH, Germany -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he has seen little progress in talks about a UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine.
Stoltenberg made the comments during a February 17 roundtable following his meeting with Russian Foreign Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of world leaders, senior officials, and policy experts.
“It remains to be seen if it’s possible,” Stoltenberg said of the proposal to deploy a UN peacekeeping force to end fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine.
Discussions of the proposal ramped up in September after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested deploying such a mission along the line separating the Ukrainian military and the separatists.
But common ground on the issue has proved elusive.
Ukraine and the West worry that a peacekeeping force along the front line rather than the Russia-Ukraine border would cement Moscow’s control over separatist-held areas and allow Russian fighters and weapons to continue to flow into Ukraine.
Stoltenberg, who described his meeting with Lavrov in Munich as “useful,” said it was “too early to say” what kind of solution could be reached on the issue of UN peacekeepers in Ukraine.
He added that the two officials discussed implementation of the Minsk accords -- 2014 and 2015 peace deals that have failed to stem the violence in eastern Ukraine -- and that the conflict in Ukraine is the primary reason for the “deterioration” of NATO-Russia ties.
BREAKING NEWS: MUNICH, Germany -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he has seen little progress in talks about a UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine.
The latest RFE/RL report from the Munich Security Conference:
By Carl Schreck
MUNICH, Germany -- A potential UN peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine was again on the agenda as the second day of a high-profile security conference kicked off, with Germany’s foreign minister saying such a mission could lead to an easing of sanctions against Russia.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a February 17 speech opening the second day of the Munich Security Conference that such a mission could lead to a step-by-step lifting” of sanctions against Russia over its interference in Ukraine.
The possibility of creating such a force for eastern Ukrainian has also been discussed by top officials on the sidelines of the Munich conference.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said a day earlier that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were unable to come to an agreement on the matter during their meeting in Munich.
The European Union and the United States hit Russia with several waves of sanctions in response to Moscow’s role in the conflict and its 2014 seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
In a fiery address to the conference on February 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on Russia to agree to such a peacekeeping force across areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists and “the uncontrolled part of Ukraine on the Russian border.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on September 5 sending a peacekeeping force along the “demarcation line” separating Ukrainian forces from the separatists in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
At the time, Ukrainian officials were lukewarm to the proposal, objecting to putting the peacekeepers along the front line of combat rather than at the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Kyiv fears deploying peacekeepers along the demarcation line would cement separatists’ control over the territory they hold, leaving Russia unencumbered to keep sending troops and arms across the international border.
Gabriel told the conference that “all options” should be explored to end the fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine in a war that has killed more than 10,300 since April 2014.
He said earlier on February 17 that it was “not realistic” to insist on Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict that have failed to hold -- in order to ease sanctions targeting Moscow.
Lavrov is set to address the Munich conference, an annual gathering of world leaders and top officials, later on February 17. He will be followed by HR McMaster, the national security adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Their planned speeches come a day after Washington announced charges against several Russian citizens and firms accused of trying to influence the 2016 presidential election.
On February 16, U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced charges against 13 Russians and three Russian companies, including one widely referred to as an Internet “troll factory," for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to improve ties with Moscow, said following the announcement that Americans should unite against efforts to sow discord in the country by "bad actors, like Russia."
Russia denies that it interfered in the election that vaulted Trump into the White House.
Ahead of his speech to the conference, Lavrov was set to hold talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Brexit and Britain's future relationship with its European partners are also on the agenda on the second day of the conference.
British Prime Minister Theresa may also addressed the conference on February 17. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe are set to speak later in the day.
With reporting by Interfax and Reuters