Monitoring Desk–Minsk: Putin and Poroshenko one-on-one meeting ended in Minsk. Russian and Ukrainian leaders have concluded their first official face-to-face meeting in Minsk during which they discussed the Ukrainian crisis and humanitarian disaster in the east of the country.
“The meeting is over,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s press secretary, providing no immediate comments on the results of the 2-hour talks. Journalists were waiting for briefing of the meeting or possible joint press conference of both the leaders. However Poroshenko left the hall after the talks giving no comment to the press.
Meanwhile Ukraine media said that President Poroshenko will be meeting Ashton at Ukrainian embassy tonight and Talks could continue for tomorrow.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton after meeting said:
“It was cordial but positive. There was a sense in which the onus was on everyone to see if they could do their best to try to resolve this,”
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko sat down for bilateral talks at around 6pm GMT, following hours of discussions between the Eurasian Customs Union, the EU and Ukraine in the light of the signing of the association agreement with the EU by Kiev, reported RT Russia.
For the first time since the crisis began, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met in Minsk on Tuesday to talk face to face for the first time since June 2014 on the uprisings that have caused instability in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko were joined by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and three senior officials of the European Union in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.
“The fate of my country and Europe is decided today in Minsk,” Poroshenko said Tuesday at the start of the talks. It is anticipated that the Ukrainian president seeks a negotiated settlement rather than a military victory for the struggle that began in April. Opening the meeting on Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged both sides to “rule the political ambitions and not seek political dividends.”
Meanwhile, the Russian leader said that “we are convinced that (the Ukrainian crisis) cannot be solved by means of the escalating use of force, without regard to the vital interests of the southeastern regions of the country and no peaceful dialogue with their representatives, “claimed this morning Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies.
