Nine Ukrainian political parties have demanded that Mikheil Saakashvili be allowed to return to Ukraine:
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
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
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.
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.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE>
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Friday, February 16, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
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
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.