Already fragile ceasefire under strain in east Ukraine

Fighting flared near an airport in eastern Ukraine in breach of a fragile eight-day ceasefire as the prime minister accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of planning to destroy his country.
Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said only membership of NATO would enable Ukraine to defend itself from external aggression.

Kiev and its Western backers accuse Moscow of sending troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces in a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people. Russia denies the accusations.
A ceasefire negotiated by envoys from Ukraine, Russia, the separatists and Europe's OSCE security watchdog, has been in place in eastern Ukraine since Sept. 5 and is broadly holding despite regular but sporadic violations, especially in key flashpoints such as Donetsk.
Speaking at a conference in Kiev attended by Ukrainian and European lawmakers and business leaders on Saturday, Yatseniuk made clear he did not view the ceasefire as the start of a sustainable peace process because of Putin's ambitions.
"We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation ... Putin wants another frozen conflict (in eastern Ukraine)," said Yatseniuk, a longtime fierce critic of Moscow and a supporter of Ukraine's eventual NATO membership.

• Yatseniuk said Putin would not be content only with Crimea - annexed by Moscow in March - and with Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking eastern region.

• "His goal is to take all of Ukraine ... Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the whole of Europe."

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a daily briefing that one soldier and 12 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours, without specifying where they had died. That would bring the death toll among Ukrainian forces since the start of the ceasefire eight days ago to six.
The rebels have not said how many of their men have died in the same period.

• Government forces still hold Donetsk airport, while the city is in separatist hands.

Putin says Russia has the right to defend its ethnic kin beyond its borders, though Moscow denies arming the rebels and helped broker the current ceasefire with Kiev.
Asked about future NATO membership, a red line for Russia, Yatseniuk said he realized the alliance was not ready now to admit Kiev, but added: "NATO in these particular circumstances is the only vehicle to protect Ukraine."
There is no prospect of the Atlantic alliance admitting Ukraine, a sprawling country of 45 million people between central Europe and Russia, but Kiev has stepped up cooperation with NATO in a range of areas and has pressed member states to sell it weapons to help defeat the separatists.
About 100 Russian trucks arrived today in the war-ravaged eastern city of Luhansk, part of a convoy sent to deliver 1,800 tonnes of humanitarian aid to residents.
It is the second such Russian aid convoy and it passed the border without any major difficulty. The first convoy in August was denounced by Ukraine and its Western allies for crossing the border without Kiev's permission.
The Ukraine conflict has triggered several waves of Western sanctions against Russia, most recently on Friday. The new measures, branded by Putin "a bit strange" in view of the ceasefire, target banks and oil companies.
Russia, which has already introduced bans on a range of US and European food imports, signaled it would respond with further sanctions of its own against Western interests.
Yatseniuk said on Saturday the latest sanctions posed a big threat to the Russian economy.
"It is bluff (by Russia) to say it does not care about the sanctions," he said, noting that Russia relied heavily on its energy sector and some of the sanctions targeted its oil firms.
Yatseniuk defended his government's efforts, despite the conflict, to tackle rampant corruption and overhaul the creaking economy, adding: "It is very hard to attract investors when you have Russian tanks and artillery in your country."
His center-right People's Front party is expected to do well in a parliamentary election on Oct. 26.
The conflict is taking a heavy toll on Ukraine's already battered economy, which is now being supported by a 17 billion dollar loan package from the International Monetary Fund.

• The economy could shrink by as much as 10 percent this year, the head of Ukraine's central bank, Valeria Hontareva, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying on Saturday, much more than the 6.5 percent decrease previously forecast by the IMF.

Yatseniuk praised a decision on Friday to delay the implementation of a new trade pact with the European Union until the end of 2015. He said it prolonged unilateral trade benefits now enjoyed by Ukrainian firms in the EU while maintaining modest customs duties on European products entering Ukraine.

• Some have seen the decision to postpone the implementation of the deal as a diplomatic victory for Russia, which is opposed to closer economic ties between Kiev and the EU, but Yatseniuk said it would be good for Ukraine's own economy.

"We got a grace period. The EU opened its markets but Ukraine is still protected, so for Ukraine this is not a bad deal," he said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky submitted his resignation, saying: "(The delay) sends the wrong signal - to the aggressor, to our allies and, above all, to Ukrainian citizens."
 http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/169658/already-fragile-ceasefire-under-strain-in-east-ukraine
13/9/14
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Poroshenko and militia leaders order to cease fire in Ukraine

The press service of the President of Ukraine said that Petro Poroshenko ordered the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire starting from 18:00 local time (19:00 MSK), on September 5.

"Based on the appeal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the leaders of illegal armed formations in the Donbass to cease fire, on the base of the protocol signed at the meeting of the trilateral contact group to implement the peace plan of the President of Ukraine, I herewith order the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire starting from 18:00 on September 5," said Poroshenko.
Poroshenko also instructed the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OSCE to ensure effective international control over the observance of ceasefire regime which should be bilateral.

The president also expects that these agreements, including ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages, will be observed strictly.

The Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, Alexander Zakharchenko, also ordered militia forces to cease fire. "The order to cease fire from 18:00 has been given to all militia units,"said Deputy Prime Minister of the republic Andrei Purgin in Minsk on Friday.

At the same time, spokespeople for the Defense Ministry of the Donetsk Republic say that the Ukrainian troops continue combat actions in the Donbass region. "Forces of the enemy are shelling the outskirts of the city of Mariupol," Interfax reports with reference of a representative of the Donetsk Republic.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/05-09-2014/128464-ukraine_cease_fire-0/#.VAn-h1fQqt8

5/9/14

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Egypt pushes for Gaza truce, presents Palestinian demands (the Rafah border crossing)

CAIRO - Egypt asked Israel on Monday to accept a ceasefire as a first step toward comprehensive negotiations with Palestinian factions to end more than three weeks of fighting, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.
Palestinian groups, including envoys of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, met the head of Egyptian intelligence in Cairo earlier in the day to formulate a plan to end the violence that has displaced more than one quarter of Gaza's 1.8 million people.

Immediately after the meeting, Egypt presented Israel with the key Palestinian demands: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the blockade of the impoverished enclave and the reconstruction of the area.
An Egyptian diplomatic source said Cairo expected Israel to accept a temporary halt to the fighting to allow for talks.

"We are working to reach a ceasefire agreement and we are expecting Israel to approve a ceasefire for a few days," he said. "Egypt will announce that as soon as we get Israel's approval."Israel has yet to give a formal response to the ceasefire plan, but an Israeli official who declined to be named said it could accept a ceasefire without preconditions.
"If we receive a proposal based on the Egyptian plan of a ceasefire without preconditions which will include rehabilitation of Gaza in exchange for disarmament, Israel will consider this favorably with a view to accepting it," he said.

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Israel began aerial and naval bombardment of Gaza on July 8 after what it said was a surge of cross-border rocket salvoes by Hamas and others and it later sent in ground forces.
It has already begun to wind down its offensive, saying the army had completed the main objective of the ground assault, the destruction of cross-border infiltration tunnels from Gaza.
With its goals met, Israel is seen as more likely to come to accept an end to the fighting in which Gaza officials say 1,804 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed.
Israel has confirmed that 64 of its soldiers have died in combat, while Palestinian shelling has killed three civilians in Israel.
A Palestinian official affiliated with one of the militant factions said a temporary ceasefire would open the door to more comprehensive negotiations.
"Should Israel agree to the 72-hour ceasefire, Egypt would invite Israel to send a delegation to Cairo to conduct indirect negotiations with the Palestinian delegation over all issues," he said.

PARALLEL CHANNELS
Egypt has positioned itself as a mediator in successive Gaza conflicts but, like Israel, it opposes Hamas and has struggled to seal a deal to end the latest fighting.
Media speculation that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns would fly to Egypt to participate in indirect truce talks had not been borne out by Monday.
A U.S. embassy spokesman declined to say if or when Burns might arrive. A U.S. official in Washington said acting special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations Frank Lowenstein was on his way back from Cairo, suggesting the United States was following the talks closely.
A U.S.- and U.N.-brokered ceasefire broke down within two hours on Friday, with Israel and Hamas trading blame.
A Hamas source in Doha said the group would not lay down arms unless Palestinian conditions were met.
Qatar, a backer of Hamas, has stayed out of the Egypt talks, but has continued consultations with Turkey and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at finding an end to the crisis should Egypt fail, a Gulf source and the Hamas official in Doha said.

• For its part, Cairo might contemplate easing the limited freedom of movement across its own border with Gaza, but was unlikely to accept Palestinian calls to allow a normal flow of trade, Egyptian diplomatic sources said.

Egypt insists that any discussion over the Rafah border crossing take place bilaterally with the Palestinian Authority rather than as part of any overall deal between the Palestinians and Israel to ease the blockade, the sources said. REUTERS
 http://www.todayonline.com/world/egypt-begins-gaza-truce-talks-palestinian-factions?singlepage=true
4/8/14
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• Netanyahu: Hamas will pay price for more attacks

• Israel confirms it fired into UN shelter in Gaza (denied killing anyone at the site)

Israel rejects US truce proposal for Gaza. (Security cabinet refuses US-initiated ceasefire in the Gaza Strip)

Israel TV reported on Friday that the cabinet had rejected the proposal in its current form, mainly because it would mean Israel would cut short an ongoing effort to destroy Hamas military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border.
The proposal called for a week-long pause in fighting over the Muslim holiday of Eid. During that time, the two sides would begin indirect talks on easing the border closure of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, says any truce must include a guaranteed end to Israel's eight-year siege of the enclave. Israel had previously said it would reject any deal that included a clause to ease the blockade.

At a news conference in Egypt, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, confirmed the rejection but said diplomats were still trying to agree a deal.

"We are working towards a brief seven-day peace in honour of Eid, to bring people together to create a more durable ceasefire," he said.
"We still have terminology and context to work through, but we are confident we have a framework that will work, and we will continue to work for that ... none of us here are stopping."
Kerry met UN chief Ban Ki-moon in Cairo on Friday, and spoke by telephone to his Qatari and Turkish counterparts, who have influence with Hamas.

More deaths as diplomacy stutters
The Israeli offensive on Gaza has continued on Friday on its 18th day.
Palestinian officials said on Friday that Israeli troops and Hamas fighters fought intense battles in the north and centre of the coastal strip, while the Israeli military announced it had hit 45 sites in Gaza.
One Israeli strike killed Salah Hassanein, a senior official from the Islamic Jihad group, and two of his sons, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that its missing soldier, Oron Shaul, had been killed in Gaza, in an attack on an APC on Sunday. Hamas claims to have taken him hostage, and his body has not been recovered.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 848 Palestinians, including scores of children, and left more than 5,200 people injured.
Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel have killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai migrant worker.
A total of 35 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza. The Israeli army said that number included Oron Shaul, who Hamas claimed to have kidnapped after an attack on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, promised to support Palestinian fighters. In a live television appearance on Friday, Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel that it was "suicide'' to continue waging war in the Gaza Strip.
"We are true partners with this resistance ... their victory is all our victory, and their defeat is all our defeat," he said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/israel-rejects-us-truce-proposal-gaza-201472518817349961.html
25/7/14

UN Security Council calls for Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire

The UN Security Council called for a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and Palestinians on Saturday, expressing its deep concern over the welfare and protection of civilians on both sides of the conflict.

“The Security Council members called for de-escalation of the situation, restoration of calm, and reinstitution of the November 2012 ceasefire,” the 15-member body said in a statement.

It also called for the respect of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.

The Security Council’s statement came as Israel rushed an eighth missile interceptor battery into service on Saturday to counter stronger-than-expected rocket fire from Gaza, and the military struck positions in the Palestinian enclave for a fifth day.

At least 127 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes thus far, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra, while more than 920 have been wounded.

• The Security Council’s statement was its first official response to the conflict since it began. The United States – a close ally of Israel – and Jordan were unable to reach agreement on a Security Council statement on the crisis earlier this week, diplomats said. Council statements have to be approved by consensus.

• Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour accused the council of dragging its feet and said Saturday’s statement had only been agreed after the Arab Group, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement threatened to push for a resolution on the issue.

The Security Council statement also expressed “support for the resumption of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians with the aim of achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based on the two-state solution”.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)
12/7/14

Lawrow und Kerry für Feuereinstellung “zumindest in einigen Regionen Syriens”

Die Außenminister Russlands und der USA, Sergej Lawrow und John Kerry, haben am Montag, nach ihrem Treffen mit dem Syrien-Beauftragten Lahdar Brahimi in Paris, zur Feuereinstellung in einigen Regionen Syriens aufgerufen.

„Wir haben darüber gesprochen, wie man die Konferenz ‚Genf-2‘ erfolgreich machen kann“, sagte Kerry. „Wir werden unser Äußerstes tun, damit die Seiten eine Feuereinstellung zumindest in einer Region, beispielsweise in Aleppo, vereinbaren könnten.“

Das Treffen in Paris fand im Vorfeld der für den 22. Januar geplanten „Genf-2“-Konferenz statt. 

• Zu der Konferenz sollen die Außenminister Russlands und der USA sowie Delegationen Chinas, Frankreichs, Großbritanniens und von rund 30 anderen Ländern sowie Vertreter der Uno, der Arabischen Liga, der Europäischen Union und der Organisation für islamische Zusammenarbeit kommen.

http://de.ria.ru/politics/20140113/267632014.html
13/1/14
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mehr zum Thema:

• MAE Hellénique: Résolution de l' A.G. de l'ONU sur la trêve olympique - Manifestation des représentations permanentes de la Grèce et de la Russie consacrée à la "Promotion de la paix à travers la trêve olympique"

• UN General Assembly calls for global truce during Sochi Games... 

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  •  Kerry, Lavrov broach ceasefire zone for Syria....

  
  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed the possibility of organizing ceasefires in parts of Syria after the pair met in Paris.
  
  “We talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a ceasefire. Maybe a localized ceasefire in Aleppo,” Kerry told a news conference after talks with Lavrov in Paris.
  
  Lavrov added that Iran and Saudi Arabia should take part in the upcoming Geneva II talks on Syria, slated for Jan. 22. Meanwhile, Kerry said Iran would be “welcome” at the Geneva II talks if it agrees to a transition of power in Syria away from Assad, the conclusion of the Geneva I conference.
  
  According to Kerry, the pair also discussed the possibility of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opening humanitarian access corridors into the country which is entering its third year of conflict. Kerry told reporters that Lavrov had told him Assad was considering opening up access to the besieged Damascus suburb of east Ghouta.
  
  Meanwhile, in Syria, The al Qaeda-linked Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant executed dozens of rival Islamists over the last two days as the group recaptured most territory it had lost in the northeastern Syrian province of Raqqa, activists told Reuters on Sunday.
  
  One of the activists, who spoke from the province on condition of anonymity, said up to 100 fighters from the al-Nusra Front, another al Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, captured by ISIL in the town of Tel Abyad on the border with Turkey, the nearby area of Qantari and the provincial capital city of Raqqa, were shot dead.
  
  However, there was no independent confirmation of the report.
  
  (With Reuters)
  http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/13/Kerry-Lavrov-broach-ceasefire-zone-for-Syria.html
  13/1/14