EU and US see ‘moment of opportunity’ on Ukraine crisis

BRUSSELS - France, Germany, the UK, and the US have urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin i to seize “a moment of opportunity” to end the Ukraine crisis.

US President Barack Obama i told press after a G7 summit in Brussels on Thursday (5 June) that if Putin recognises Ukraine’s new leader, Petro Poroshenko, and stops pouring arms and fighters into Ukraine, then “it’s possible for us to begin to rebuild trust”.

“But we cannot afford another three months, or four months, or six months of violence and conflict in east Ukraine. We will have to see what Mr. Putin does over the next three or four weeks, and if Russia continues on its current course, then we’ve already indicated the kind of measures we’re prepared to take,” he added, referring to potential EU and US economic sanctions.

British PM David Cameron echoed Obama.

“There’s a moment of opportunity for diplomacy to play a role … for Ukraine and Russia to have a proper relationship. That’s the message I’ll be delivering this evening,” he said, ahead of his two-way meeting with Putin in the margins of a D-Day anniversary event in France later on Thursday.

French President Francois Hollande said the very fact Putin agreed to attend the D-Day event with Poroshenko is a good sign.

“President Putin was told he’ll [Poroshenko] be there and he [Putin] still decided to come, so he will stand next to, or in any case not very far from, the president-elect of Ukraine,” Hollande said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel added it is also a good sign that Putin on Thursday decided to send his ambassador back to Ukraine, creating the possibility that the Russian envoy will attend Poroshenko’s inauguration on Saturday.

The chance of a Ukraine deal comes during a week of top-level meetings in Europe at WWII and Cold War commemorations.

Obama, who has spoken to Putin only by phone since the crisis began, did not rule out face-to-face talks in France. “Should we have the opportunity to talk, I’ll be repeating the same message [as here],” he said in Brussels.

The EU did not grab the opportunity to sign a landmark free trade treaty with Ukraine already on Saturday, however.

The European Commission has completed the necessary paperwork, but EU ambassadors are to adopt a decision on the signature next week, with a view to doing it on 27 June.

Poroshenko had asked the EU to sign at his inauguration ceremony, but diplomats say he asked too late for the EU to wrap up technicalities.

An EU contact noted there is very little chance that the EU will back out despite the delay. “It would be a huge blow to the reputation of any [EU] member state if they decided not to sign the treaty at this stage. I don’t see anybody exposing themselves to that political risk,” the diplomat contact said.

Despite the optimism, the question of Western solidarity on Russia haunted the G7 summit in the form of two French warships.

Hollande has said, with German backing, that he is contractually bound to deliver the first of the state-of-the-art assault vessels to Russia in October.

For his part, Obama said Franco-US relations are “stronger than ever.”

He also said the “striking degree” of Western unity on sanctions is probably the reason why Putin has changed his rhetoric in recent days. “Our technical teams have been consulting with the European Commission to identify [economic] sanctions that would maximise impact on Russia and minimise the impact on European countries,” he noted.

But he reprimanded Hollande on the warship deal.

“I have expressed some concerns, and I think I’m not alone in that, about continuing a significant defence deal with Russia at a time when it has violated basic international law,” he said.

“I recognise that this is a big deal. I recognise that jobs in France are important. But I think it would have been preferable to press the pause button. President Hollande has made a different decision.”