Putin lists conditions for Ukraine cease-fire

President Elbegdorj Tsakhia (left) of Mongolia and Russian President Vladimir Putin review the troops Wednesday at Genghis Khan Square in Ulan Bator.
President Elbegdorj Tsakhia (left) of Mongolia and Russian President Vladimir Putin review the troops Wednesday at Genghis Khan Square in Ulan Bator.

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia listed seven steps Wednesday that he said were necessary for a cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Putin said he and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had a similar understanding about what was needed, and he urged Ukraine and the pro-Russia separatists in the east to reach a settlement at talks scheduled for Friday in Belarus.

Earlier Wednesday, President Barack Obama declared the conflict in Ukraine a "moment of testing" for the United States and Europe, calling Russia's intervention a "brazen assault" on the nation's territorial integrity that warrants a unified response.

The primary conditions on Putin's list are that the separatists halt all offensive operations and that Ukrainian troops move their artillery back out of range of cities and large towns in the rebel-held area.

Putin also called for the halt of Ukrainian airstrikes against the separatists; the establishment of an international monitoring mission and humanitarian aid corridors; an "all for all" prisoner exchange; and "rebuilding brigades" to repair damaged roads, bridges, power lines and other infrastructure.

Putin announced his seven-point plan during a five-hour working visit to the traditionally friendly neighbor of Mongolia, where he was meeting his counterpart for talks on trade and transit links.

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AP

Devka the dog, with a grenade attached to its collar, sits with a pro-Russia rebel Wednesday in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

He made the announcement a day before the leaders of the NATO alliance, including Obama, were to meet in Wales to discuss the Ukraine crisis. NATO is expected to announce that it will create a new rapid-reaction force for defending its members in eastern Europe, along with other measures.

Putin said he expected Ukraine and the separatists to announce an agreement by Friday, the day the two-day NATO summit is to conclude.

Though Putin said he and Poroshenko had similar views on achieving a cease-fire, the Ukrainian prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, issued a statement Wednesday rejecting Putin's plan.

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AP

President Barack Obama visits with Estonian schoolboys Wednesday at a welcome ceremony at the Kadriorg Place in Tallinn. In a speech to students, Obama assailed Russia’s “brazen assault” on Ukraine.

A government website said Yatsenyuk called the plan "an attempt to confuse the international community" before the NATO summit and the expected announcement of new European Union sanctions on Russia.

"Putin's real plan is the destruction of Ukraine and the resumption of the USSR," Yatsenyuk said.

He added that "the best plan to stop Russia's war against Ukraine" would be if "Russia withdraws their regular troops, mercenaries and terrorists from Ukrainian territory -- then peace will be reinstated in Ukraine."

The West and Ukraine have accused Russia of providing arms and soldiers to support the separatists, an allegation that Putin has repeatedly denied.

Earlier on Wednesday, there was confusion about whether Putin and Poroshenko had reached an agreement of their own. Poroshenko's office first issued and then retracted a statement saying the two had agreed to a "lasting cease-fire."

A spokesman for Poroshenko's office said the initial statement, posted on the presidential website, went too far in describing the results of a telephone call between the two leaders, and that the call had not produced a formal agreement. Following protocol, the spokesman did not give his name.

Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin's press secretary, said separately that Russia could not negotiate a cease-fire, because it was not a party to the conflict, but that the opinions of the two presidents overlapped.

"Putin and Poroshenko did indeed discuss steps which could facilitate a cease-fire between the militias and the Ukrainian military," Peskov was quoted as saying by the news agency RIA Novosti. "Russia cannot physically agree on a cease-fire, as it is not a side in the conflict."

Peskov said Putin and Poroshenko had discussed "what should be done primarily to stop the bloodshed" in eastern Ukraine, where the United Nations estimates nearly 2,600 people have been killed and more than 340,000 forced to flee their homes.

Vladislav Brig, the head of the political department for the rebels' Ministry of Defense in Donetsk, said combat operations were continuing as usual Wednesday.

"Nobody is holding negotiations about a cease-fire with the representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic," Brig said. "As long as there are Ukrainian soldiers on our territory, there will be no cease-fire."

Miroslav Rudenko, a member of the rebel parliament, suggested that the cease-fire might be a trick, but also suggested an openness to negotiations.

"If the Ukrainian side will hold to their promises to cease fire, then we are prepared for a political side of the settlement," he told the Russian news agency Interfax.

Obama, on a visit Wednesday to Estonia, suggested that the real test in Ukraine would be whether Moscow was willing to rein in the separatists and stop its military support for them.

"If, in fact, Russia is prepared to stop financing, arming, training, in many cases joining with Russian troops activities in Ukraine and is serious about a political settlement, that is something we all hope for," Obama said after meeting with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia.

Obama condemned what he called "Russia's aggression against Ukraine" and said Moscow was guilty of having violated the postwar international order.

"It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation," Obama said in a speech to more than 1,800 students, young professionals and civic and political leaders at a concert hall. "It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system -- that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun; that nations have the right to determine their own future."

He sought to reassure Ukraine's neighbors by referring to a $1 billion initiative that will position more U.S. equipment in the Baltic states to be ready in the event of an attack, more training exercises, and more United States forces "including American boots on the ground" rotating through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Obama also used the speech to call for military assistance to Ukraine's armed forces. While he did not say that the United States would be sending weapons to Ukraine -- a step that some U.S. lawmakers and some of his advisers have urged -- Obama said NATO should help.

"Now, Ukraine needs more than words," he said. "NATO needs to make concrete commitments to help Ukraine modernize and strengthen its security forces."

The leaders of Latvia and Lithuania traveled to Estonia on Wednesday to meet with Obama. While they welcomed U.S. commitments to the region, they pressed for more, including permanent NATO bases near their borders.

Other alliance members are loath to take that step because of a 1997 agreement with the Kremlin in which NATO said it would not have a permanent troop presence of a significant size on Russia's border. But Ilves said NATO should have the flexibility to sidestep the agreement because security conditions have shifted drastically since its signing.

"I would argue this is an unforeseen and new security environment," said Ilves, who grew up in the United States. "It does not mean we have to give up the whole act, but certainly when an agreement in certain parts no longer holds, well, then it's time to make a change."

Meanwhile, the French government announced Wednesday that because of the Ukraine conflict, it would suspend delivery of two Mistral-class warships to Russia that are being built in French shipyards. The first ship was scheduled to be delivered later this year.

The decision came after months of pressure on France from allies to suspend the sale because of the fighting in Ukraine.

In an announcement of the decision, French President Francois Hollande's office called the crisis "grave," and said Russia's recent actions harm "the foundations of security in Europe."

Information for this article was contributed by Neil MacFarquhar, Andrew Roth and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New York Times and by Jamey Keaten, Sylvie Corbet, Robert Burns, Juie Pace, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov, Peter Leonard, Lynn Berry, Nataliya Vasilyeva, Geir Moulson and John-Thor Dahlburg of The Associated Press.

A Section on 09/04/2014

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