Ukraine, rebels and Russia eye peace talks as fighting wanes

Fighting in eastern Ukraine subsided on Tuesday as Kiev, Russia and Moscow-backed rebels in the region said they hoped for a prolonged ceasefire and the resumption of peace negotiations this week.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko’s aides said artillery fire has stopped in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where more than 4,300 people have been killed and at least one million displaced since the conflict erupted in April.

In the east itself, however, officials in government-held areas said some artillery fire had continued from the rebels, who in turn claimed Kiev’s forces were shooting and repositioning heavy weapons.

In the evening, Ukraine’s national security and defence council said the militants had fired nine times on built-up areas, injuring at least one civilian.

“We have declared a Day of Silence three times in the past. This is the fourth time. One hundred and ninety-two people have been killed since September 5th,” said Viktor Muzhenko, the Ukrainian army’s chief of staff.

Previous calm

A ceasefire was agreed on September 5th at talks between Ukraine, Russia, the rebels and representatives of the 57-state Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

Talks between the same sides were due to reconvene yesterday in Minsk, but after an unexplained postponement they are expected to start on Friday.

Kiev, Moscow and the insurgents say they want to halt the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has seen the European Union and United States impose sanctions on Russia for sending weapons and fighters to the rebels.

Moscow denies backing the militants, and accuses the West of fomenting Ukraine’s revolution last winter and using the subsequent unrest in the country as a pretext to isolate and weaken Russia in its traditional “sphere of influence”.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that "Russia has breached and is still breaching international law . . . neighbouring states are suddenly no longer partner countries but spheres of influence.

"We have had to witness a shifting of borders in Europe, the annexation of Crimea and the questioning of territorial integrity – a core part of Europe's post-war model. The apparent right of whoever is strongest trumped the strength of law."

In apparent response, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow "could not but express our concern over what our German colleagues are doing.

“Germany has traditionally played a very constructive role regarding EU ties with Russia and the West as a whole with Russia. If Germany would decide to move to issuing orders, then Europe wouldn’t win from that and neither would Germany.”

Amid unconfirmed claims that Russian special forces have suffered heavy losses in fierce fighting for Donetsk airport, Moscow has slightly toned down its rhetoric in recent days, and resumed gas supplies to Ukraine yesterday after a six-month hiatus.

Under an EU-brokered deal, Kiev agreed to repay billions of euro in fuel arrears and to pre-pay for future gas deliveries. Ukraine now also faces a severe shortage of coal due to the conflict in the eastern mining heartlands.