Putin Calls for Talks on Statehood for Eastern Ukraine

Local Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called for the first time for statehood to be discussed for the restive east of Ukraine.

The remarks came just hours after the European Union gave Moscow a week to change course or face new sanctions.

"We need to immediately begin substantive talks... on questions of the political organization of society and statehood in southeastern Ukraine," the Russian leader was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

Moscow has previously only called for "federalization" that would grant greater rights to the eastern regions of Ukraine, where predominantly Russian-speakers live.
But Putin had long sparked speculation that he may be seeking to create a pro-Russian statelet when he began to employ the loaded Tsarist-era term "Novorossiya," or New Russia, to refer to several regions in southeast Ukraine.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that the Russian leader was not talking about "Novorossiya's" independence from Ukraine but "inclusive talks." "Only Ukraine can agree with Novorossiya," he was quoted as saying.

Putin's tough talk comes as rebels have begun to reject the concept of "federalization" in recent weeks, calling for independence from Kiev, as they turned the tide on advancing Ukrainian troops by snatching a series of towns.
Kiev has warned that it was on the brink of "full-scale war" with Moscow which Europe fears would put the continent at risk of conflict.

The EU agreed to take "further significant steps" if Moscow did not rein in its support for the rebels, with new sanctions to be drawn up within a week.
Kiev said the invigorated rebel push of the past days has included substantial numbers of Russian regular army contingents who are now concentrating forces in big towns across the region.

Over 2,600 people have died in the Ukraine conflict since mid-April.

Europe Condemns...

NATO last week accused Moscow of sending at least 1,000 troops to fight alongside the rebels, sending artillery, tanks and armored vehicles across the frontier.

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite warned that "Russia is practically in a state of war against Europe" and called for EU military assistance to Kiev.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged Brussels to take tougher steps against Russia's "military aggression and terror" and warned that a "full-scale war" with Moscow is closer than ever.
"Today we are talking about the fate of Ukraine, tomorrow it could be for all Europe."

Poroshenko said he expected the West to ramp up its arms supplies to Ukraine after discussions at a NATO summit in Wales on Thursday and Friday, where he is expected to meet with US President Barack Obama.

On Sunday Russian and Ukrainian officials confirmed that a prisoner swap had taken place on the northeastern border with Ukraine.
"Nine Russian paratroopers were given to the Russian side" on Saturday evening, Lysenko said. A few hours later, 63 Ukrainian soldiers were handed over by Russia.

New Offensive

Rebels have pushed a lightning offensive around Ukraine's Azov Sea in the past week, prompting speculation of a possible attempt by Moscow to establish a corridor between Russia and the Crimean peninsula it annexed in March.

The rebels have advanced swiftly along the coast, capturing the town of Novoazovsk last Wednesday, just one day after Poroshenko met with Putin for talks that failed to achieve any breakthrough.

Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, spoke to Russian media Saturday about "preparing a second large-scale offensive."
At Mariupol, volunteers manning the barricades fear their trenches and barbed wire will be little match for the insurgents' tanks, but recognize the importance of their task.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team