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.
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:
President Poroshenko says the most important thing for Ukrainians in facing Russian aggression is to stay united:
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."
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."
Interesting statement from the EU head in Munich:
Kyiv Mayor Klitschko and U.S. Envoy Kurt Volker in Munich: