Donetsk (Ukraine): Ukraine on Tuesday brushed off strong European pressure as it rejected talks with pro-Russian rebels on a truce to halt a bloody insurgency convulsing the ex-Soviet nation until they laid down their arms.
The unconditional stance reflected a new confidence in Kiev that it was on the verge of quashing a rebellion it views as Moscow’s retribution for the February ouster of a Kremlin-backed leader and the decision to pursue a historic alliance with the West. But it was also bound to both frustrate EU leaders pushing for a diplomatic solution to the continent’s worst crisis in decades, and Kremlin efforts to force Kiev to make compromises that would preserve the Russian-speaking east’s ties to Moscow.
“Now, any negotiations are possible only after the rebels completely lay down their arms,” Defence Minister Valeriy Geletey said in a statement. Ukrainian forces have scored a string of surprise military successes since the weekend that forced most of the militias to retreat to the sprawling eastern industrial hubs of Donetsk and Lugansk — both capitals of their own “People’s Republics”. President Petro Poroshenko has ordered his troops to blockade the insurgents inside the cities and cut them off from any further arms supplies.
But it was not immediately clear how the new pro-Western leader intended to force the militias to give up their three-month campaign to join Russian rule. Germany and France have been spearheading a European push to sit the two sides down for negotiations that could agree the terms of a new truce.
Poroshenko cancelled a 10-day ceasefire on July 1 because of uninterrupted rebel attacks that claimed the lives of more than 20 Ukrainian troops. (AFP)
