Merkel criticises Putin for broken promise on Ukraine

BRUSSELS - Most EU leaders on Thursday (23 October) criticised Russia’s non-compliance with peace accords on Ukraine, but Italy caused surprise by calling for re-engagement with Moscow.

German chancellor Angela Merkel i told press after the summit in Brussels that pro-Russia rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk in east Ukraine are creating their own “facts on the ground”.

Russia and Ukraine in Minsk on 5 September agreed, as part of a ceasefire, that Ukrainian authorities would organise regional votes in the conflict zones in December in a concession on decentralising power.

But the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics are preparing to hold their own elections in November amid ongoing claims to independence.

Merkel blamed Russian leader Vladimir Putin i, noting that he promised her in Milan last week to use his influence on the rebels to prevent the Minsk accord from creating a frozen conflict.

She noted: “This [the November vote] is a contradiction to what Russia said: ‘No. We don’t want a frozen conflict, another Transniestria [a 25-year old separatist confrontation in Moldova]. We will respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine’.”

The EU leaders agreed a joint statement which calls on Russia to meet its obligations.

A draft of the communique - which is to be formalised on Friday - confirms the EU will uphold its Russia sanctions for now.

“The European Council recalled previous EU decisions on restrictive measures … [and] will remain seized with the situation in Ukraine”, it says.

“The Russian Federation … should assume its responsibilities for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. In particular, Russian authorities should prevent any movement of military, weapons, or fighters from its territory into Ukraine. They should exercise their influence to ensure that the separatists implement in good faith the obligations assumed in Minsk”.

But for his part, Italian PM Matteo Renzi stood out by urging fellow leaders to bring Putin back in from the cold.

Renzi left the summit without holding a press briefing and Italian diplomats could not be contacted for a comment.

But a senior EU source told EUobserver the Italian leader “gave a half-hour speech about the need to ‘engage constructively’," with Moscow.

With EU states’ ambassadors to hold a formal review of Russia sanctions at the end of October, an EU diplomat added: “Renzi's intervention went down quite badly. Several leaders openly told him that it [a sanctions review] was not a subject for today’s meeting”.

Ebola screening

Meanwhile, EU leaders voiced alarm over the spread of the Ebola virus in west Africa.

Their draft communique also notes “the scale of the epidemic is a threat not only to the economy and the stability of the affected countries, but also to the region as a whole”.

“With the first confirmed cases of Ebola infections in Europe, the state of preparedness within the European Union and further work to protect European Union countries and their citizens are of utmost importance”, it adds.

The leaders say there is a need for “reinforced exit screening” of people coming from west Africa to Europe.

In a nod to British demands, they underline the importance of “co-ordinated preventive actions within the EU, such as entry screening”.

They agree to step up “appropriate care for international health workers … including through medical evacuation”.

They also appointed Christos Stylianides, Cyprus' incoming commissioner on humanitarian aid, as an EU "co-ordinator" on the crisis.

French president Francois Hollande told journalists there is a need to avoid “panic” in Europe, but also a need to avert a potential “catastrophe”.

He said Ebola can spread “exponentially” if left unchecked and promised to impose entry screening not just at French airports, but at all points of entry from west Africa to France.