Russia Denies Ukraine Blame After Germans Push for Talks

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany, Anton Doroshev – November 19, 2014) Russia’s foreign minister blamed the conflict in Ukraine on other countries’ efforts to increase their security since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A day after Russia and Ukraine clashed over how to move toward a new cease-fire agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. and the European Union had repeatedly “torpedoed” peace efforts. Ukraine, the European Union and the U.S. blame President Vladimir Putin for supporting pro-Russian separatists and stoking a conflict that has killed more than 4,100 people, according to United Nations estimates.

“Throughout the Ukrainian crisis our country has consistently sought to help Ukraine to overcome this difficult period in its history,” Lavrov said in the Russian lower house of parliament. “Russia can’t stand by and watch what’s happening in a neighboring fraternal country.”

Standoff in Ukraine

The crisis has intensified since the rebels held Nov. 2 elections that Ukraine and its allies condemned as illegitimate. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg criticized Russia yesterday for staging a “serious military buildup” on its western border and sending troops and weapons into Ukraine. Russia denies military involvement.

Shelling Deaths

The conflict has weighed on Russian and Ukrainian assets. The ruble fell 0.3 percent to 46.97 per dollar at 3:54 p.m. in Moscow, extending its loss this year to 30 percent. The hryvnia, which has lost 46 percent this year, gained 2.2 percent to 15.2 against the greenback.

Two Ukrainian troops were killed and 13 wounded in the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Facebook. Rebels violated the cease-fire 43 times, it said. Shelling also killed three civilians yesterday in Luhansk, the region’s governor said on his administration’s website.

Lavrov said the former Soviet republic was conducting an economic blockade that may precede a new military assault by Ukrainian troops. That followed a decree from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last week under which the government in Kiev is to cut off financing and services to rebel areas.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier engaged in a day of shuttle diplomacy yesterday, visiting Putin last night after meeting top Ukrainian officials in Kiev. There can be no military resolution to the conflict, Steinmeier said after talks in Moscow with Lavrov.

Understanding Skepticism

“I can understand your skepticism,” Steinmeier told reporters. “But I believe we should keep working to carry out the Minsk protocol.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia today of ignoring the Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk. He called for new “Geneva format” talks, which would include Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the U.S.

Putin’s government has rejected that plan, saying the format doesn’t involve the separatists. The four sides produced an agreement in the Swiss city in April to ease tension after Putin’s March annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, which Ukraine blames on rebels using a Russian-supplied anti-aircraft missile.

The Geneva pact later unraveled as fighting intensified. Now Ukraine and its allies say Russia continues to send it heavy weapons and combat troops across its border.

“The best and the most efficient format of conducting talks is the Geneva format,” Yatsenyuk said at a government meeting in Kiev today. “We will not have direct talks with your mercenaries. If you want peace, execute the Minsk accord.”

Yatsenyuk also said his party was ready to sign an agreement to form a coalition government of pro-European parties who won parliamentary seats in Oct. 26 general elections. The government must quickly pass the 2015 budget, he said.

Article ©2014 Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved. Article also appeared at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-18/germany-shifts-to-shuttle-diplomacy-as-nato-sees-buildup.html